Are you the kind of person others look to for advice? Or do you find yourself feeling more and more inspired by the idea of empowering others?
Yet at the same time, worry if you’re saying or doing the right thing.
Maybe you’re younger than the friend or client you’re speaking with. Perhaps you’ve not lived through the experience they are currently navigating. Or it could be the good old fashion fear of not being good enough.
Either way – if you’ve ever asked the question “Who the hell and I to coach or inspire others” this episode is for you
When we’re unsure if we’re enough to coach or inspire others – we often stay quiet.
Not speaking up and offering our voice.
Not sharing the deep inner wisdom we know is there.
Not claiming our space in the world.
We can spend days, months and years waiting until some magical future time when you’re ripe to be that woman who is empowering to others.
I know for a big part of my life I held back from sharing – even in social settings, or with friends – because I was afraid to be seen as someone who had deeper insights or ‘knew more’, fearing being a tall poppy that might cast a shadow on others.
And many of us do fear to shine the fullness of our light, because it can cast shadows on those who are not shining their own light. We might ruffle feathers. We might have to deal with changes in relationship dynamics.
Yet not shining is not really an option if you desire true empowerment.
I can’t show you how to shine your way, if I’m not shining myself.
The process of claiming our full light means we are willing to peek into all of our shadows, illuminate the darkness that lives there, and come into peace with it.
Some of the dark thoughts, worries and fears that keep our luminosity turned down as:
What if I don’t have all the answers?
What if I don’t know the solution?
What if I can’t help?
What if what I have to contribute isn’t enough.
What if I’m not intuitive enough?
What if what I have to say is wrong.
I know all these fears well. They are rites of passage for the woman of integrity who is stepping up.
Yet for the modern woman called to inspire others – the reality is that it’s less about what you know, less about how old you are, less about having the right answers… and much MORE about the very critical:
Who are you NOT to share all that you have?
When there are individuals and women in the world who don’t even have the option to speak up.
Where there are girls and young women int he world who might not even know this path is a possibility.
When there are those who would further seek to shame and slander the rights of women.
Who are you not to answer that longing, desire & gift that’s within you?
Who are you not to share all that you can?
Who are you not to give?
If your body has shown you a desire, a gift, an inspiration and you’re not claiming it – then you are complicit casting further shadows out into the world.
And we don’t need more women living in the shadows.
I know how challenging it can feel to step up and shine your light. Especially when those dark thoughts, worries and fears arrises.
But the new wave of feminine leadership – which we can take a stand for in the way we work in the world, the way we mother and love and contribute to our communities – is a wave full of feminine qualities.
And first amongst those qualities is compassion for our imperfections.
This means if you don’t have all the answers – it’s okay.
If you don’t know the solution – it’s okay.
Your contribution will always be enough if you are making it with your full heart.
And whether it’s your intuition or your compassion your bringing to the table, to your client or to your friend – it’s the natural qualities and strengths YOU are as a woman that are your gift.
Many times I’ve coached women who were older than me, sometimes twice my age. Many times I’ve worked with women who have been in situations I could never dream of. Many times I’ve been worried if the right words would come.
But as a new feminine leader, if I expect those I’m partnering with to be compassionate with themselves, I have to embody compassion first.
If I want my clients to embrace their vulnerability.
I have to go first.
And if I desire other women to feel empowered.
I better say yes to my light and my power first.
Women working the embodied way are the new feminine leaders. And we are incredibly imperfect.
But most of all, we are the women who acknowledge: if not us, then who? And if not now, then when?
It is my deepest desire that every single woman knows she absolutely has something to offer. Your lived embodied experience is a gift, you are a gift, and the desire that asks you to turn on that light, is a gift.
So who are you not to use it?
I’d love to hear what this question sparks for you. Leave your comment and join the conversation over in the section below.
Thank you so much for joining me.
For more episodes like this make sure you sign up here at www.jennaward.co and remember – the world needs more embodied women. You, woman, are such an important and unique in the contribution that you make to your community, your clients, and the world.
