Owning your greatness

   Last night, I had the distinct privilege to have dinner with this wonderful lady who lives in my building. As I sat across the table from her, I just kept thinking how strong and lovely she looked. She was incredibly gracious and let me talk about myself a ton! I had an fantastic day yesterday with all kinds of momentum for my book and lots of life affirmations about my journey as an author. I was literally blabbing on and on about all these great things happening in my life, and this beautiful lady just sat on the other side of the table, sipping her wine, soaking it all in.

   When there was finally a break in my long-winded story, she looked at me and said something that kind of caught me off guard. She said, "You act like you're surprised by all of this! Like you don't know how to own all of your greatness." It took me a second or two to recover from her words because I think that exactly defines what I saw in her as she listened to me blather on and on. I saw a women who owns her greatness, and it inspired me.

   After allowing her to share some things with me, I realized that her journey to finding her footing in her life wasn't simple or easy, and I gathered that she has had to push her way through her fair share of heartache in her lifetime. And even now, she is pushing through unpleasant things. But as I listened to what she shared, I never doubted that she has the courage to get passed it, and to learn from it, and then to own all the greatness she discovers within herself along the way.

   I want to own my greatness -- but sometimes I worry that doing so will make me seem conceited or haughty. I guess when I get plain with it, the whole idea smacks of  vanity and selfishness. I always want to be humble and gracious because those are core values I truly respect. But at the same time, why should being humble mean that I can't embrace and celebrate all that God made me to be? If I gave someone I love a gift, I think I'd be really hurt if they didn't accept it or embrace it for all the value it has! Why should all of the gifts that God bestows on me be any different?

   Today, I had a chance to marinate on this idea a little bit further, and I think with time, I will be able to embrace the balance of owning my greatness with the idea of being a woman with a humble and gracious heart. With God as my focal point, and the acknowledged Creator of my total being, when I embrace all my greatness, I'm really just loving and appreciating God! With wisdom comes maturity and with maturity comes grace, and I hope that with each life lesson I experience on this journey, I will know how to take all the blessings, heartaches and affirmations into my heart and fully embrace them all! AND, I hope I can learn to be easy and comfortable in my own skin, and ultimately embrace all of God's greatness in me!