Ah ha's.....

Image by blondepowers via flickr

"Our biggest fear is not that we are inadequate

Our biggest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure

We ask ourselves, who am I

to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

Your playing small doesn't serve the world

We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us

and as we let our own light shine

we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same"

Marianne Williamson

These concepts are ringing very true for me at the moment. Some, I 'get' completely and others are a work in progress. I cannot agree more with the idea that when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. Over the past year I have worked hard to find my light and share it with other people (and to come to understand that it is ok to do so). I have shared the 'real' me and been more authentic than ever before in my life, and by doing this I have given myself and others a gift. When we are happy with ourselves, understand ourselves, celebrate and share ourselves with the world and are authentic in everything we do, it inspires others. It allows them to see how wonderful life can be and motivates them to get out there to find and spread their own joy.

In the past I have had a hard time truly believing the idea that our biggest fear could be that we are powerful beyond measure. Who would be afraid of being powerful? Wouldn't we all love to get to that point in our lives and when we did, wouldn't we grab it with both hands? Apparently not. I can attest to this. I am powerful in my own life. Sharing my life experiences and being my true self has had an amazing effect on the people around me. I have seen this, felt this, been told this. I know this to be true. If this powerful self is the very same person who made a huge life change this year and left her teaching job to join the lululemon family, why then do I let fear and doubt creep in and essentially play-down the power that I know exists within me? The answer to this question only started to dawn on me in the past week. It is because I am letting past disappointments cloud my mind. I haven't realised it, but I must still be carrying them around with me.

What I need to trust is that I have found my place to be powerful, where I can take that leap of faith and throw everything I have and everything I am into this life and I will be supported. I'm not going to be 'dropped' or be told 'Be Big, Be Powerful - ok stop, now you're too powerful', as has happened in the past. I need to fully let go and trust that the culture of lululemon and the amazing people I work with is where I can finally be me and achieve greatness. I did truly believe this when i first decided to change my life and work with lululemon, but I've let fear creep in since then.

I made an enormous stand for my own greatness in changing how I live my life, and in changing my career path at the time in life that I have (age 32, with a 1 year old). I need to keep holding myself accountable. I didn't put in the hard work and make those big decisions to come to lululemon to be mediocre. I came to lululemon because I truly believe with all my heart that I have finally found the place where I can be the powerful person that I am, and where I will make a difference in a way that goes beyond anything I could ever have imagined for myself. I'm here, its here and its time to do this! So I am a lululemon store manager by July 2010, I am Regional Manager for lululemon by July 2012 and I am General Manager of lululemon athletica Australia by July 2016. Whooo hoooo!