Stand Alone - Article

As women, we tend to stay out of the spotlight. We wait to be invited to speak. We wait to be asked our opinion. Rarely do we stand up alone. Is it fear or uncertainty that keeps us from shining?

Why is it that when asked to do something we step up to the plate and complete the job successfully? Why are we waiting to be asked? If every woman did what was important to them, authentically important, our lives would change. If each woman tapped into her magnificence without waiting to be asked, we could realize our personal potential. If each woman found their voice and refused to be silenced again, our future would be glorious.

Think about it… women are creators, we are nurturers, we are financial planners, we are managers, we are master schedulers and able to keep, not only ourselves, but others on target and we work on top of all this. We have the ultimate power, the ability (if we chose) to create life within ourselves. Why do we keep ourselves small? We have everything we need to create a successful life for ourselves right here within ourselves. Why do we continue to doubt our power, our magnificence and our absolute brilliance?

When did someone in our lives, make us feel that our voice wasn’t important? What was going on with that person that they felt threatened by our voice? Why did we allow it to happen? Was it what society at the time dictated or just how the workforce was? It doesn’t have to hold true for you forever.

Times have changed and society is changing; we are all brilliant and have a valuable voice. A voice that is strong and true to our values. We only need to speak. Think of what knowledge we could learn if we all spoke our authentic voice and listened to each other’s wisdom.

We can choose to listen to our voice, to realize our potential and by trusting ourselves we can change the world we live in.

Each and every one of us, woman or man, has this power somewhere within ourselves, we just have to create the space, for the information our bodies already know to move, so our brilliance can flow.

Think about Stepping out of the Box that you hold yourself to be in. By finding our authentic self and trusting our voice, it is easy to stand alone. By having the courage to stand alone, we become a beacon for those who want to do the same.

© Lori Walton, 2006
Unlimited Potential. Ever Unfolding. Continually Discovering. Authentic Self.

Decloaking - Article

Isn’t it curious how when we experience something that is meaningful to us, even life changing, we don’t talk about it as we should? I’m curious, is this something that everyone does? When have we let someone silence us - to make us think that what we have to say isn’t important?

It was very freeing for me to begin to speak like this, “From my experience” - those are powerful words when you think about it … nobody can argue with your experience, because it’s yours, you own it.

Too often we ignore the voice of brilliance and truth inside of us. We begin to have an inner dialogue with ourselves asking questions like, “what do other people want to hear?” “What will happen if I say that?” We second-guess ourselves. When did we stop trusting our magnificence and stop believing in ourselves?

I did this with the article I penned for my Departmental Newsletter on a “Women’s Leadership Pilot” program I was part of. Instead of writing about my experience and how it changed my life, I “neutered” my words, thinking they would be more acceptable to my co-workers. I used the excuse that I was writing on behalf of the group, so how could I express my life changing experience in this group collective.

As days went on I didn’t feel satisfied with the article. This was an invitation for me to get curious about why I felt that way. The article was so much less than the experience. It struck me that I had used the group collective as a scapegoat. I was afraid to decloak and reveal my true voice in front of my co-workers. Heaven forbid that people might look at me differently.

Through my experience with Women’s Leadership and completion of the “Igniting the Self” program, I became aware that I have something to say, I can contribute, and I have a voice. If I decided to finally speak up and say what I think, what I feel, what I am, I can make things happen. I can share the changes I have experienced in my life. Some people might not agree with me, and that is okay, what other people think of me is not about me and is not my business. What is important to me, is that those who are interested in what is happening are able to hear about my truth, my experience, and perhaps it will invite them to get curious about what is speaking to them from within.

I am now willing to decloak, to not silence myself, to not neuter my experience anymore. This is me, this is who I have become, take it or leave it. I just am, and I now have the courage to Stand Alone and share this with others.

© Lori Walton, 2006
Unlimited Potential. Ever Unfolding. Continually Discovering. Authentic Self.