They say reach for the stars and you will get to the moon. I say reach for yourself and you will get to the stars. – Francisco Leon
So many of us play small in our lives, I know, I am one of them. At some point in our childhood, we lose our ability to dream big and follow through. Life wears us down and steals our innocence, everything that we once believed was possible, becomes impossible through one excuse or many. Once we realize we can’t, we don’t; we don’t even try.
Recently, I was fortunate to attend The Personal Mastery Academy hosted by Robin Sharma. This was my third straight year attending this event and every year I leave with something big that I need to work on. It didn’t take me long to realize that while I now know that my painful past is completely healed and behind me where it belongs, it is now up to me to grow up. In this giant sandbox, we call life, I am playing way to small. I’m allowing my world to squeeze me out and worse, I am allowing my mind to keep me there.
Upon returning from PMA, I had felt guilty discussing my experience with co-workers. Instead of sharing my newfound knowledge, I felt too small and unworthy to have gone. My work had invested in me to attend this great event, not because I was the top employee, but because I had put in my hard work in building my mind and body up to be a productive person. I work hard on not allowing my ego to run me and I openly accept and promote change within our office. They felt that I was worth the investment, but I didn’t feel that I was. I felt too small to be given something so large.
When we play small by allowing others opinions of us dictate our direction or pass up on opportunities because we don’t feel worthy or choose to allow our comfort zones to swallow us whole, we lose out on the happiness of our life. Every opportunity that we let pass by because we do not have the confidence to jump outside our comfort zones is another opportunity lost to bring out our inner happiness. We all have happiness inside of us, but sometimes, we need to push ourselves a little to find it. Being comfortable will never make you happy, no matter how much you try and convince yourself.
Reach for those stars, push yourself, and in the amazement of your success or the beauty of failing, you will find a genuine happiness that you never thought existed. Playing small and resisting the challenge of “just going for it” only serves to rob you of life. And who knows, if you reach far enough for those stars, you may just become one!
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This blog post is part of a series of 26 that focuses on finding your inner happiness. Please check out the rest of the series here: The ABC’s of a Happy Life