Give us your best please.
All you. Nothing but you. Flawed and imperfect but never hidden and tucked away somewhere near or far, so that we miss out on knowing you and experiencing what you have to offer.
You are irreparable and irreplaceable but you are nothing if you hide and shy away from sharing who you are and what you can do. The best way to hide is to think you’re not good enough or to forever seek perfection. Not being good enough will prevent you from ever starting, and expecting perfection will prevent you from ever finishing.
Finish what you start.
Love the flaws and the imperfections.
I’ll let you in on a little secret. Everything in the universe has some kind of flaw. Perceived flaw anyway, but that is what makes everything worth while.
Don’t be afraid to show the world who you are. Don’t be afraid to let others see you for who you are. No, you cannot shield yourself from rejection or humiliation, but living a life hidden in fear is not much of a life anyway. No, you cannot protect yourself from the inhumane treatment of others, but you can open yourself to the embrace of friends and strangers who will gladly accept you and your work for what it is.
So give us the best you’ve got and do not worry about the rest. The rest is not important. The rest is going to sort itself out, over time, and if needed, your mistakes and imperfections will be smoothed over time, but only, only if you are willing to expose yourself to the world. Only then will you experience growth and change.
It’s not easy, which is why so many people hide. I have hid inside my mind for over forty years, coming out once and again to play. I hid, dreaming and hoping, that one day someone would come along and invite me to be someone I dream of being. I cannot wait any longer. I cannot wait, because I’ve had an epiphany a little while back. I saw with absolutely clarity the thousands and hundreds of thousands of times I was asked and invited to share and show myself. I hid very well. I could run back into that rabbit hole with amazing speed. I was good at watching from afar. Addicted to comfort and order. But no longer.
I don’t mind playing with the foxes and the wolves. I prefer the open field to the musty darkness of the rabbit hole.
I hope you come out to play too because I want to see your best, please. I want the world to feel and experience your best too. Your best is all you ever need. Not perfect. Not prim and proper. Give us the best you’ve got, and give us the opportunity to take it or leave it.
If it’s left behind it was not for them, and that is ok. There are many things I leave behind. If I made a list, I would write for all eternity. Instead of dwelling of what might be left behind, or what rejection may or may not feel like, first create something that can be rejected. Become someone that can be discarded and ignored, but you won’t be.
Your quiet, insecure little steps, will slowly and surely gain confidence and traction, but for that you have to live in the open.
So give us something. Finish something. Start something else.
Give us your best, please.
And we’ll both be greater for it.
Cover photo generously provided by photographer Caju Gomes via unsplash.com
