What would really happen if you took a chance and "Lived out Loud" for that one moment?

Every day we see things in ourselves and in our society that we wish we could change, but we feel powerless to do something. So we stand quietly by and let it happen. Sometimes, its a small moment that really doesn't impact the world and other times it might just ruin a good day or worse. What would really happen if you took a chance and "Lived out Loud" for that one moment?


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A little background about why this concept is important to me. At several times in my life, I lived as a 'small' person. This has nothing to do with my physical size. It has everything to do with how I feel as a human being and my personality. I have locked myself down at times an essentially shut down my emotions just so I wouldn't be hurt, feel pain, get angry, etc. I pigeon-holed myself into just existing with the hope that people would leave me alone. Bosses, manager, friends, two ex-husbands, and a multitude of others who intimidated, belittled, micro-managed, and generally just assumed I was on this earth for them to walk over. I somehow felt I couldn't stand up to or wouldn't just so I wouldn't rock the boat. In short, I was miserable!! My weight ballooned to over 500 lbs and I felt horrible - emotionally, physically, personally. (I have a ongoing weight loss story, that I'll share pieces of through my blog, those stories affect my concept of Living out Loud.)

These periods of lockdown have been rather cyclical in my life and eventually my spirit will fight free and say 'screw you' to the world at large around me. I would begin to fight for me and for what I believe.

"Living out Loud" became important to me during one of these times. Initially, it started with one of my ballroom dance instructors who saw through my boundaries and would push me not just physically, but emotionally to let go. To let the music and dance be a channel for my emotions, ultimately be an outlet to my sadness, anger, angst and ultimately became my joy, freedom, and an expression of myself. He pushed and pushed and those boundaries came down and it was then I got the rush of how it felt for my spirit to live and breathe within me and not just exist. Secondly, it came about again a few years later. A pastor in a church challenged to "Live out Loud". At first, I was like "Are you kidding?" how could he know this. I have a love/hate relationship with the church as whole, but my faith is very important to me. I'm just quiet about it (another battle, another blog). But, it lit the fire in me again to let my spirit live. Another few years later, we come to today...and I am making the jump to take everything I've done the last 10 months with being more positive and living in the light and not only challenge myself but others around me to open the doors, let your spirit live, and do something positive.

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You have the power within yourself to take a bad moment and make it good, or to see something happening to someone else and make it change for them. Simply by using your voice and saying something positive.

How does this work?

For yourself - If you have a moment when you think badly of yourself or a situation; take a quick second and step out of the moment and see what could be positive about it and tell yourself that.

Example: For me, I have a horrible habit of telling myself I'm not good enough for certain things and it can pervade my entire being if I'm not careful about it. I tend to let society's standard for "good enough" get in my way of all the amazing things I can. These days there is so much joy in my world that this is rare (but it's still there - the evil dragon can take over and shut me down in a heartbeat). My daily challenge is to SLAY THE DRAGON and believe that I'm always Good Enough. The truth is and always has been is that I AM GOOD ENOUGH, I'm more than enough. When these moments occur I remind myself of all the wonderful things in my life and all I can. It's not easy, but it works.

For the world at large - If you see things that happen with others, perhaps someone else fighting the 'good enough' dragon...remind them of how amazing they are. If you see someone being a total jerk to them...stand up for them. This could be on a personal level or at the professional level. You don't have to go to battle and cause drama, in fact I advise against. But, find something positive in the situation and do what you can to change it. Or if you see something positive and great - reinforce it.

Example: If you come across someone who is being belittled by someone and you don't like it. Don't just stand there and let it happen. Take a few moments and interrupt the situation...you could just interrupt and change the subject. Simply stopping the behavior from continuing could stop the person on the receiving end from enduring the crap of the giver. Or be really ballzy and say something positive and try to impact them in some meaningful way. It won't always work, and won't often be received well. But, it changes the moment and perhaps your positive thought will be a seed that grows and gives that individual something amazingly good or positive the next time they speak or do something.

I would love to hear how this goes. Please post to my wall and tell me how it goes.