Secrets have a stimulating effect. Remember back in grade school when your friend shared their coveted secret with you? You were drawn in. Your heart may have even beat a little faster as they leaned in so close you could feel the warmth of their breath on the fine hairs of your inner ear.
Then suddenly, you were connected in a way that no one else in the 6th grade could understand.
We still feel that today when someone leans in to tell us what they know about so and so, or they themselves have kept hidden from the rest of the world.
Even when that someone is us…the secrets we keep hidden even from ourselves.
We feel it drawing closer, its presence on the back of our neck. We push it away, not wanting to think, feel, or desire a certain something.
It could be something so private that you feel your cheeks flush with shame.
It could be a thought that brings fear bubbling up so quickly, you feel intoxicated.
It could be that you want to try something new, have a goal in mind, and find yourself brushing it away just as it attempts to entice you.
What if we lean in?
What if we allow ourselves the opportunity to feel a connection with self that transcends the closeness we enjoyed with our 6th grade BFF? What if we decide to become our own BFF, allowing ourselves the time and space to dance with our own desire, hopes, and dreams?
Leaning in and entertaining a thought will not wash us away. Ignoring it actually gives it far more power because it's stimulated by fear. When we turn and look at it, opening our ear to hearing and considering ourselves it drains the fear and allows us to engage our own strengths and make a decision that feels right and best for us.