too much & not enough
Welcome back to My Intangible Cage series. I really can't tell you how much I love hearing your feedback from last week's post. We are on week 3 of this fear series. And today I'm gonna get real vulnerable. Ray LaMontagne is in the background ( well not him, but his music) and that always helps. This whole series has actually been vulnerable, but this particular fear is especially embarrassing for me. It is a fear I have dealt with almost all my adult life. I am afraid of being too much & not enough.
I am afraid I am too much to handle. I am afraid I am overbearing and my laugh may be annoying. I am afraid I will talk too much or make a joke at the wrong time. I am afraid my issues will be too heavy or my friends will get tired of my problems. What if people grow weary of dealing with my insecurities? I am afraid that my ambitions will be too big and my personality overwhelming. Sometimes I get off the phone and cringe at how strong I came across. What if people smile and are nice, but are secretly relieved when I walk away? I wish that I could be cute & sweet. But I'm not very good at that. I always end up being intense. I am afraid that people will get tired of me.
I am afraid that I am not enough. I am afraid that I will disappoint people or be a dud. What if people expect something amazing and I don't deliver? What if I am the wallflower at the party and get written off as boring? What if I have nothing to add to a conversation & offer no value to an idea? Sometimes I leave a meeting thinking through the things I wish I had said but was too scared to. I am afraid that I will be underwhelming. The girl everyone likes but no one needs. I am afraid that there is nothing significant or memorable about me.
And so, I binge back & forth between "too much" and "not enough". When I feel overwhelming, I gear down. Soon I am afraid I have backed off too much. Time to jump back in the game. I evaluate my environment to see where I am on the pendulum. I am constantly battling this tension...back & forth I go. Overcompensating for my percieved "too muchness" or "not enoughness". Can't come across too strong or too weak...because I am afraid of who I am.
The truth is I will never get it just right. Because I am not supposed to. I have flaws. Sometimes I am too much for some people and sometimes I am not enough for others. But so what? Fear robs me of truly sharing my life with others. My friends & family do want to walk with me even through my "too much" days. And they never look at me and see "not enough". Your friends & family don't either.
Most importantly, God says we are just right. We are fearfully & wonderfully made. Designed with a specific purpose and a divine composition to accomplish that purpose. He isn't annoyed with our dreams, hopes, insecurities and weaknesses.
It is time to stop being afraid of who we are & who we are not. I'm going to try to embrace who I am and stop worrying about being intimidating. It is time to silence the voices & lies that accuse us of being "too much" and "not enough". Time to be bold in the way we accept ourselves. Are you in???
We won't be perfect, but we will be honest. God can handle us. He can handle all of us.