When your cringey bits are loved.

This week I celebrated my work anniversary with my teammates, and lucky for me they brought me into a virtual room to sing me my praises.

We gathered around and they started telling me all the things they loved about me. Sap sap, right? 

They love how bold I am. How tenacious I am. How I’m a no nonsense type and how I’m outspoken. 

As I sat there I felt mystified. How can it be that the things they’re celebrating about me happen to be the things that make me cringe the most about myself? 

These are the attributes I step into and then recoil, overthink and even shrink like a violet thereafter. Especially when I think I was too bold, too big, and took up too much space. 

Women are told over and over again that we’re too much. Which begs the question are my attributes cringeworthy or have I just been conditioned to believe that I should make myself smaller? I should be nicer. I should be quieter.

There are a few lessons here. The first is to find your people. Find people who celebrate you just as you are and want you to take up space, want you to be big. 

The second lesson is to trust yourself more. Stepping into our own brilliance is easier when you’re surrounded by love, and it starts with loving yourself and all your cringeworthy bits, too.