Just show up.

Dear Friends,

We’ve officially entered holiday season. Holiday season usually involves an increased number of social gatherings. Social gatherings tend to invoke a variety of emotions. We’re forced to step out of virtual reality and back into face-to-face connection and conversation. We cross paths with more family members than usual, and we make time to see old friends. Catching up with family and friends usually involves creating a lot of conversation, and answering a lot of questions about your life. It also involves a lot of listening to others talk about things that you might not find very interesting.

I used to put a ton of pressure on myself when entering social situations. I felt like I needed to present myself and my life in a way that seemed interesting and purposeful. I felt like I needed to have pre-meditated conversation topics picked out to fill any potentially awkward silences. I felt like I needed to be “on” and constantly nod my head when listening to others talk, and I felt like I had to absorb everyone else’s energy and emotions whenever I walked into a space.

All of these things caused me great, unnecessary worry, and great, unnecessary anxiety (which, by the way, lead to heartburn and indigestion). Consequently, I used to feel exhausted in every social situation I entered into, and I was zero fun to be around. I used to blame this on my inherent introversion, but really I was just making social situations much more complicated than they needed to be.

With the help of my teacher, here’s what I learned to do: see myself as a blessing, and just show up.

You, too, are a blessing. You, too, can just show up. It’s that simple.

Whether you believe it or not, you’re a spiritual being. A beautiful, radiant, powerful spiritual being. You have a unique feel to you, a unique physical look, a unique set of gifts and interests, and a unique story. That, in and of itself, is so grand. You, in and of yourself, are so grand. And you don’t have to do anything to prove it. Just show up.

When you see yourself in this way, you wake up to the notion that your presence is a blessing. You also wake up to the notion that everyone you encounter is a blessing. And you let them just show up as well.

When you do this, you eradicate the false need for pressure and worry, and you invite the presence of love and support instead. Rich connection and fun conversation start to reign supreme, and social gatherings start to feel energizing rather than exhausting. You might even start to feel like you have a secret super power. By the way, you do.

Merry Holidays!