“Lean against your tendency. . .”

These words were as wise this morning as they were years ago when a mentor shared them with me.

All of us are created with gifts, strengths, passions, talents & love-tos that inspire our hearts to dream.  That’s what we call “vision” — when the eyes of our hearts are illuminated to “see”.

Natalie’s heart woke her up at 3:30 this morning.   And then she did something crazy. 

She stayed up, and started WRITING what her heart was seeing.  About the POSITIVE impact her vision would have on others as she played it out (“Positivity” is her #1 according to “Strength-Finders” vocabulary).   AND she wrote about what had been holding her back.  

That’s what Natalie and her husband Josh were discussing with Chet when I joined them.    No surprise that there’s a cause-and-effect relationship between ACTING on our vision and PERFORMANCE.      No surprise either that when we shrink back and think too little of our dreams — or more to the point,  think too little of ourselves — we play too small.  Our PERFORMANCE suffers, AND others miss out on countless blessings.

Natalie had convinced herself she was just giving others the opportunity to play ahead of her.    It sounded honorable.   It sounded humble.

Except her heart didn’t believe it.  And neither did Chet and I.   And it’s why her heart wouldn’t let her sleep.

So that’s when the words “LEAN AGAINST YOUR TENDENCY” flew out of my mouth as if I’d just heard them yesterday.   If that’s your tendency, in the words of Nelson Mandela, pray about this:

 “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.  We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and famous?”  Actually, who are you not to be?  You are a child of God.  Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.  There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.  We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us… And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Do you know your tendency?   Have you convinced yourself in “false” humility to play it small?  Lean against it.  Do you tend to think too highly of yourself and overplay others?  Lean against it.

And even more importantly, if you tend to roll over and tell your heart to shut up when it wakes you up with a stirring you’ve been ignoring for way too long, LEAN AGAINST IT.   

Or the next time your heart wakes you up could be when they have to call 911.

Your heart MATTERS, to you AND to others.   So know your tendency — and lean against it.