If you don’t share yourself, your thoughts, your personality, who you are or who you are trying to be, what you believe in and why, you may not have to risk the critics. The doubters. The questioners. The try and make-you-change-your-minders. No one will have the chance to judge you, disagree with you, and maybe, will have no valid reason not to like you. Although, they still might not like you.

On the contrary, when you decide to be who you are, believe what you believe, shamelessly, authentically sharing what makes you the way you are, you are going to have people that may criticize you, disagree with you and even dislike you. And judge you. And perhaps resent you. And hurt you. Maybe make fun of you. Be concerned for you. Talk about you. And not in the good way.

I believe that when you genuinely and confidently share yourself with others, that you will, more importantly, risk the greater good. You may have people that agree with you, or understand you, or relate to you. Or see things from your view. Learn from you. Sympathize with you. Or grow with you. Or find motivation in you. Or find a friend in you. Or who you may help, often without even knowing it. And then, who, in turn, may help you.

It’s a happier place. If you can push aside the disbelievers, the insecure and the criticizers and just focus on the growers, the lovers and the builder-uppers. The encouragers. The relaters. The best kind of people are the hot-air balloon people. They get you off the ground, take you higher up, where the view is awesome. And the cynics or sand bags practically become non-existent, when you’re up there looking down.

How relieving for me to know that I’m “not the only one who….”

*loves to laugh and cry too
*needs help sometimes
*is imperfect and has insecurities
•can’t watch the movie “Frozen” anymore..let.it.go.
•has a goofy, quirky side and a warped sense of humor
•lets their children climb up the slides(NO! Yes.)
•gets upset, frustrated and can be short-fused and impatient, but LOVES her children more than anything
•has a disease that can be frustrating and hidden and also helpful
*gets deeply saddened and hurt sometimes by things of this world
•etc.etc. etc.

I think there are very few times that someone wants the title of “the only one who..” I think we are drawn towards one another. To feel the happy, sad, frustrating, life-altering together. To relate to one another. And most importantly, to love one another.