Читать книгу Stand Out - Hill Alison - Страница 11

So, I have a confession to make. I listen to Keith Urban (by choice), and sometimes I fart while doing yoga. Okay, that was two confessions but, hey, I figured we've gotten to know each other by now. #BFFs #deepandmeaningful

I'm a really long way from living the perfect life. But I wouldn't swap it for all the shoes in Carrie Bradshaw's walk-in wardrobe. Seriously, how did we get to this point where we need everything to be perfect before we can start? The house, the clothes, the car, the waistline, the white teeth; if we just wait till they're all perfect, then I can get about the task of being awesome. But it's a furphy, fool's gold and a mirage all wrapped up in one. Now is the time to stand out – like, this very second.

Typically, I come across amazing men and women who hold themselves back because they're not sure if it's their time. They're afraid of push back, of being judged, of being isolated from their peers and loved ones. Of course, to change oneself is to be different from the norm, so we fit in. Stay the same. Join the herd.

Being invited to stand out is scary, and it's easier to not do it; to let others have the limelight and shelve our own plans for awesomeness until we're really ready. In some ways, it is easy to see why we default to helping others in front of ourselves. We get so much by giving to others, and by lifting them up.

Here's the thing, though: it's not mutually exclusive. Scarcity thinking makes us believe it is, but we live in abundance. We can do both things. We can stand out in our life and lift others up. In fact, we owe it to the men and women who come after us to stand out. Wouldn't you want your daughter to know that it's possible to feel comfortable in a space that has previously been held only for the ‘boys' clubs', for example, and to stand on her own two feet, comfortable in her own skin? Wouldn't you want your son to have the confidence to say when it's all too much and find his way back healthily from the brink of pressure?

I wrote this book for my daughter, who is strong-willed, spirited, adventure-loving and curious, and whose gifts to the world need to be shared. I wrote this book for my mum, who set the example of how showing vulnerability is one of the hardest endeavours, and the only thing that truly ties us together (even when it's tough and others don't like what they see in the mirror). I wrote this book for my son, whose kind heart will be threatened by an archaic macho male culture's attempts to harden it, yet who will be capable of flipping the tables and becoming a leader of men through love, not force, if he chooses.