Embrace the wonder of you

Lean in and explore your truth, warts and all, encourages our writing columnist, author and coach Jackee Holder

YEARS AGO, I DISCOVERED an exercise in a counselling book that both scared and excited me. I started using it with groups and the impact was amazing. But it took courage and staying power to get people to commit to trying it. I would sit in rooms and watch colour drain from faces. I would defend challenging questions, pushing me to give logical reasons why the exercise should even be attempted. But people always finished with softened brows and dancing eyes, like faces that had come alive outside on a blustery day.

The group prompt was: ‘If you really knew me, I would tell you that…’ This can be adapted as a journal prompt too. Write it down at the top of a new page of your notebook. Set a timer for 15 minutes. Write freely and honestly for a few minutes, then repeat the sentence, curating 10 possible responses from your initial thoughts. This exercise is not for the faint-hearted. It requires a willingness to see and write about what you don’t want to see.

Research* shows that when people consciously choose honesty, they have fewer physical ailments, such as headaches, and improved wellbeing. This tool has helped me own the messiness that I was part of in the past.

Taste the freedom

When you are truly honest with yourself, so much more is possible. Come on, admit it – from this place you can breathe more air. The following journal prompts will help you dive deeper into your self-exploration: Who would you be if some of the scarier things on your list were public knowledge? Who would it free you up not to be? What are your wildest dreams? What if you embraced radical acceptance of all the different parts of yourself, including the good, the bad and the ugly? What’s possible now?

When you lean in to yourself, flaws and all; when you embrace your own wonder, then people or situations have very little power over you. These are powerful life choices to make on the page.

Jackee is a writer, coach and creative: jackeeholder.com; @jackeeholderinspires