I want my life and work to be meaningful. I want to live and breathe my passion and purpose daily. I want to be a force for change – for a more loving and compassionate world.
But my character is not forceful. My leadership style is not charismatic or persuasive. My dedication to my work, my accomplishments and achievements often fly under the radar as I don’t seek to put myself forward. I am also not competitive which means I mostly defer to more extroverted characters. Perhaps this is read as weakness.
And so I have been having a little crisis of self… the crisis of the “I’m too small” and the “I’m not enough” kind because I don’t have a “big, out there” personality.
I’ve been here before. So time to find solitude and sit with this discomfit and then the epiphanies will come…. they always do…
Epiphany – find your Quiet again…
A few years ago I read Susan Cain’s book Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that won’t stop talking. Then I listened to her TED talk. Both have been life changing for me. I went back to these again.
Susan’s Quiet Revolution is based on wonderful core values some of which have profoundly resonated with me:
Be kind always
Be soulful – embrace feeling, emotion and the unseen
Be quirky
Be honest
Be aligned with your values
Be a revolutionary – “In a gentle way you can shake the world.” Mahatma Gandhi
I want to be a quiet revolutionary.
And in my own gentle, authentic way shake the world.