If you have never seen a TED Talk, I highly recommend you visit their website. There is a wealth of information and wisdom being discussed and shared by some of the most brilliant minds of our time.
I just watched a TED Talk by Caroline Casey, a woman with whom I was not familiar, but one who just challenged me to change. "I never needed eyes to see...I simply needed vision and belief." By the time Caroline Casey said these words at the end of her talk, I knew who she was and what she stood for. Caroline was raised with no labels and no limitations; her parents raised her to embrace her talents and abilities. At the age of 17, she was told that she had been legally blind since birth ("I never needed eyes to see..."), but her parents never allowed for her to know that she "should be" limited by her physical disability - they raised her with the ability to believe that she could do anything she wanted to...they taught her to believe.
My first thought was this: If my parents hadn't told me the truth about my "condition" for 17 years, that would mean they were liars. (A little judgmental, I know...but I did move on quickly!) My second thought was drastically different: Wow. She was not upset with her parents, but thankful for teaching her how to believe. And not just the power to believe, but the amazing ability to believe in herself. How long did I yearn for the desire to believe that I was worth something, that I had value, that I mattered.
Now, Caroline did come upon some struggles later in life, but she discovered that she was believing in the wrong thing...she wasn't believing in herself, that all of her was enough. How often does that happen? Sitting here right now, I have been struggling to embrace all the different aspects of myself, knowing that I haven't been perfect today. Do I believe that I am enough? Caroline added that it's exhausting trying to be perfect when you're not. Are you tired? Is it more difficult to fight who you are or to accept it and embrace who you really are, imperfections and all?
How can we learn from Caroline Casey, a woman whose vision surpasses the limits of her eyes? For me, I need to consider that only seeing with my eyes puts a constraint on the vision of my heart and soul. I need to re-evaluate what I am looking for and how I am looking. I need to let go of labels and limitations and believe in myself...embrace myself - mistakes, imperfections, and all. I need to learn to believe in myself, to let go of the preconceived notions that I allow and use to hold me back from growth and vision. I need to believe that I am enough.
What do you need to believe?
No comments:
Post a Comment