Teaching Again!

Recently, I decided to go back to teaching. As a part of my coaching practice, as many of you know, I conduct life-mapping workshops. These workshops gave me the itch to teach again. So, I returned to teaching, after a 15 year hiatus where I raised my beautiful children. I posted a picture of my first day of work at the University and I have to admit that the “gremlins” were talking. Before I hit "share" on that personal post, the little gremlins basically asked, “What if it doesn’t go well, and you just posted it to Facebook?” To make a long story short, I faced my doubt and challenged those gremlins by responding, “It’s still courage.” Brene Brown, in her book Gifts of Imperfection, states, “ . . . I’ve learned that playing down the exciting stuff doesn’t take the pain away when it doesn’t happen. It does, however minimize the joy when it does happen. It also creates a lot of isolation.” I am excited to go back to teaching, and I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I was a little nervous. However, as I try to do with most challenges, I work on making sure my mind is parked in truth—I am showing up. I am practicing courage. I am using my gifts. By the grace of God, returning to teaching was a positive experience that not only fanned the flame to teach again, but added fuel to the fire. In Daring Greatly, Brown writes, “Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.” My hope in writing this post is that we all recognize the importance of vulnerability and courage. When we express our true selves, gremlins and all, we move closer to self-acceptance and authentic connection.
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