From Spectating to Participating: Breaking Free from the Sidelines

For a long time – longer than I care to admit – I would hold off saying what I really thought or felt. Instead, I would tell myself that I wanted to hear and sit with what someone said before making any comments. This wasn’t true with friends or family. It was true with teachers and strangers.

Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? Well in a way, except I rarely ever brought up questions or made comments later, and I almost always had lots of things I could have said or commented on.

In fact, what I did was observe instead of participate. It felt safer that way. And it might have been safer, but sadly for me, it also meant that I remained an outsider and uncommitted.

Quote of the Week

God created everyone uniquely and for a purpose, and not to be on this earth as a passive spectator. - Sunday Adelaja

The power of vulnerability

Maryanne Nicholls is a Registered Psychotherapist.  To find out more, gain access to her weekly newsletter, meditations and programmes, sign up at www.thejoyofliving.co .