I Only Thought I Wasn't Ready for This

Oops! I send this message this morning, but I missed attaching the link to my Be Courageously YOU Guide near the bottom. Thank you to the people who mentioned it to me so I could fix that. I appreciate you.

My 20-year high school reunion was in 2013. I wouldn’t miss it and I simultaneously didn’t want to go. I grew up with those humans and wanted to know what they were up to, how their kids were, and meet their spouses. I just wished I could be a fly on the wall, listen in to get the details, and not be seen.

I was in the early years of my own self-awareness awakening and I used my newfound sense of self, and beginning stages of disconnecting from old, limiting beliefs, to find the courage to go.

I had to remind myself, “Jill, you are not the girl from high school who was super try-hard goodie-goodie combined with try-to-be cool not good at all.” I had to remember that all the shame I felt about myself, as well as the lonely feelings of what I was navigating at that age, were not my current reality or who I was at all.

To stay mindful, with colored markers (my fav), I wrote out my recently discovered who I AM Truths on a piece of notebook paper. I ripped the page out away from the spiral of the Mead, folded it up, and tucked it into the inner pocket of my purse. It was a reminder that I am not that girl I was in the early 90’s, I am not who anyone thinks I am, I am ME, Jill. My I AMs in my purse were a great reminder to be courageous and be myself. No guards up. No pretense. No need to prove. No need to compare. Freedom.

To be fair, I am way, way, way more totally me, aligned in my soulful consciousness today than I was in 2013. I was still fumbly in knowing who I really am beyond what I wore and what my hair looked like. Here’s the very best part of doing that work on me before that reunion, however; by giving myself permission to be my real, true self, I was fully present to getting to be with the real, true others. In freeing myself from my old stories and beliefs about myself, I went into the weekend free of anyone else’s. I had a really fun time getting to connect with the other adult selves of those kids I grew up with.

Years later, I still have remnants of that original piece of paper. I have rewritten my I Ams numerous times. It is a great practice in remembering and I recommend it on a regular basis. While I no longer carry them around in my purse, on days when I’m feeling less than, unsure, or anxious, I will stand up in the power position and recite my I AM Truths. This reconnects me to my full self, to the Divine within me, and sets me on a course and of love for myself and everyone around me.

Fun fact: When I started my coaching practice in 2014, I had this belief that those people from high school would be like, “Who does she think she is? We know what she was like in high school. Who is she to coach people?” Turns out, my number one source of my original clients and referrals, came from people I went to high school with.

Ready to release old, limiting beliefs and step fully into the Truth of who you are? Download my Be Courageously YOU Guide here and begin your very own I AM journey.

Celebrating YOU,