This is my transparent moment: While on the phone the other day, I had a friend to speak some truth to me that had me really thinking and questioning was she telling the truth? Had I not been living the life according to what I have spoken over others? She told me that I had outgrown my position where I was working and that I really was not using my gifts and that I was basically dumbing down. She continued to say that I was a leader and I was accepting less because I was content. I was playing small. Me, Christine L. George, the author, speaker, playwright, business owner, life and mental health coach, etc. Was I really playing small?
So I looked up playing small. It means to avoid risks and actions that might cause problems or make you feel uncomfortable, with the result that you might not achieve what you want to achieve. WOW! I went a little further and remembered my favorite poem, Deepest Fear by Marianne Williamson because I purchased a canvas to hang in my office at work but never got around to it. The next morning the only thing that kept ringing in my ear was, your playing small. The poem goes on to say:
Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that others won't feel insecure around you.
I kept reading this over and over and nothing changed about the answer. It still was true. I was playing small! I did not want to come out of my comfort zone. Me playing small, was not serving the world and it was not serving me either. This became so personal to me until the meaning changed from your playing small to You Are Playing Small. This confirmed and affirmed what I felt and what was told to me. It was loud and clear that I had to acknowledge that all these years that I had been pushing my children to higher heights and pushing other people to higher heights, only to realize that I was afraid of heights. I dimmed my light so that others felt comfortable around me. I dimmed my light for others to feel better about themselves. I dimmed my light because I really did not want to be seen. Then it hit me, Matthew 5:16 states, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." We should not play small because God wants us to shine for Him. Dimming my light does not serve the world and it does not serve God. We should not pray for God to increase our territory and then turn our lights off so that others can't see us. If they can't see us, they can't see God. Some of you are probably saying, she does so much already, but truth be told, I truly have not lived up to my full potential. I am not operating in the fullness of what God has given me in my personal and professional life.
So, I don't make resolutions, I make commitments to God. My word for 2024 is intentional. No more dimming my light because it's uncomfortable. No more dimming my light because I don't know the end results. No more dimming my light because I'm afraid of failure. I will pursue God's Will intentionally. I am going to let my light shine for God because I AM Not playing small anymore!
Get ready for new territories, new positions, new mindset in 2024! I am ready to shine! I am ready to S.O.A.R. (Successful. Obedient. Authentic. Results.)