When you connect with others do you tend to give people less than the full of yourself out of the fear of what they might think of you or the fear that you may intimidate them or the fear that they may not like you if they know who you really are? Stop. You are not doing anybody any good by not being the whole of yourself, you are actually giving them a great disservice. Do not be humble. Do not fear sharing the whole of who you are. You are the most beautiful and powerful creature in all of the universe. Dare to shine your light so that others will dare to shine their light as well...then together we can change everything.
I know that I tend to hold back, but I've been trying to be a lot more open lately. My mantra has become, Be Present & Be Open. I remind myself to be fully aware of the present moment and to be wide open to expressing whatever the present moment brings up within me and to share that with whoever is with me in the present moment.
What do you do to help free yourself? How can we be more open in the present moment and how can we bring ourselves more freedom to share that openness with others?
The question to ask yourself is: Why do you feel you hold back ?
For me it's the fear of feeling vulnerable that makes me hold back. The mind fears being vulnerable. Vulnerability opens you up to judgment from others...and worse, judgment from yourself. I am definitely my own harshest critic. When I am associating myself with thoughts about being, when I define myself only as my thoughts, I fear judgment, because I fear being vulnerable to that judgment.
How do I lose the fear of being vulnerable and truly open myself up?
I have overcome this many times. When I am coming from the place beyond thoughts about my being and allow myself to just be, then I no longer fear judgment, then I'm no longer afraid of being vulnerable. But I have a really hard time staying in that space, and living life from that spot...I always seem to slip back into the thoughts about being...then the judgments start...and I don't even realize it...until I do realize it...and I stop those thoughts and judgments...with a little work I bring myself back out of thoughts about my being and allow myself to just be. Sometimes I slip into these thoughts for 10 min, sometimes for days, that is a cycle I'd like to break.
How do I live from that space more consistently?
I've fairly recently started using the program Panic to Freedom, this has really helped me, quite a lot, with all of this...and more. They have a ingenious system designed with 4 principals that really have helped me to overcome anxiety quickly at it's onset. If it's something that interests you too, I highly recommend you take a look.
Ancient wisdom for the modern world.
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