Originally Posted by Soulfull

Hah. Like that.



I suppose the first thing I would try to work out is why I find it so hard. Sometimes it can seem overwhelming to try and imagine if you are being perceived the way you wish, to other people. Other times it's difficult to find words or formulate sentences because your brain just stops working for a moment (seems like an hour) because it is trying to calculate every possible outcome of the situation so you won't be taken off guard, which ,of course you already are anyway. How bad is this, I'm going to recall a episode of The Brady Bunch, when Marcia had to give a public speech (many people will probably exit now) she was told to imagine everyone in their underwear. (you could maybe swap this for being naked) I always thought it was a pretty good concept as I've always had a bit of a problem with male authority figures (so I visualise them wiping their arses or picking their noses or in their wives stockings and stilettos). I've often found unjustified fear is what freezes me up.
"Our deepest fear is not that
we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful
beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness,
that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small
doesn't serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about
shrinking so that other people
won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory
of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconciously give other people
permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fears,
our presence automatically liberates
others."
- Nelson Mandela's inaugural speech, 1994 (incorrectly attributed, this quote is from A Course in Miracles-Marianne Williamson)