Many years ago l was a walking time bomb. The older l became, the further back l pushed my qualities that l wanted to hide from the world.
Heaven forbid, l did not have my shit together.
I had shut down so much of me that someone could have looked at me the wrong way, and the string from the bomb could have self-ignited.
What l failed to realize at the time, that suppressing what l perceived to be those “bad” qualities, l also pushed back all their positive opposites.
You see, you can’t have one without the others.
You can’t have dark without light, good without bad, love without hate.
I had worked my butt off to shut myself down.
I had fallen into the trap of ‘if only” it was like that, “if only” l had more money, “if only” l achieved this level of success or achieved that position. Then all would be okay.
Hmm, did l have a rude awakening.
Delusion of grandeur made its mark.
And when it did, reality kicked in.
I discovered me. Imperfect, middle class, divorced, scared, angry and completely flawed me.
And there was more. I was beautiful, l was brilliant, l was real, l was raw and l was absolutely all of me.
Stepping in to end my suffering was conscious choice l made when l took responsibility for my life.
To stop hiding from the rest of the world. Breaking free from the illusion of perfectionism.
Shedding the cost of getting it right all the time.
Holy crap, l was not perfect. I made mistakes.
I made the choice to break free to un-conceal the real me.
The one deserving of my own love.
The one deserving self forgiveness and compassion.
The one deserving to be whole, complete and perfect the way she is.
When l brought myself in to the space of worthiness, l found my sacred gifts.
I began to see the soft, heart, feminine aspect of me.
I began to fall back in love with me.
Isn’t that what being a leader is about?
Creating a space for the people you lead to fall back in love with themselves. To connect with their soulful purpose, to move toward the shared vision and to create a global ripple where love drives our actions, not fear, judgement or hate.
When we step into who we are, embrace all aspects of ourselves, the hidden and love, we allow the world to see our true self. When we step into our true self, others will do the same. We uplift our followers to embrace their gifts and allow them to grow and shine and see their greatness within.
Leaders create leaders.
Isn’t that what you are searching for?
Ange
Angela Kambouris — Let’s connect
Originally published at www.huffingtonpost.com on September 12, 2016.