Who Do You Think You Are?

I was a guest on a podcast last night. My first time ever being interviewed like that.

I've wanted to do this for a long time. And I was nervous.

Not nervous like butterflies. Nervous like old voices showing up that I hadn't heard in years.

What do you know? You're no expert. This is scary. Who do you think you are?

I genuinely thought those lines had faded into the background somewhere over the last two decades of doing this work. Apparently they were just waiting for the right moment to resurface.

I did it anyway.

The voices don't ask permission

I've been doing this work since 2007. I've sat with hundreds of people in their hardest moments. I know what I'm doing. And last night, ten minutes before we started recording, my brain still asked me who I thought I was.

The voices don't check your résumé. They don't care how long you've been doing the thing. They show up anyway, right on schedule, usually right before something that matters.

What I noticed instead

By the end, I noticed I was sweating a little. Small thing. But it told me something, my body had been working hard the whole time, holding steady through something my mind was actively trying to talk me out of.

A few of my dearest friends were praying me through it. Not in the room, but with me anyway. I felt that. It mattered more than I expected it to.

Elle and Camille, the hosts, were gracious and engaging, exactly like I'd hoped they would be. The fear had told me a story about how this would go. The story wasn't true.

Your scary step

The voice and the action don't have to wait for each other. You don't need the fear to be quiet before you move, you need support, and the willingness to let your body do something hard while your mind keeps talking.

I'll share the episode when it's published. That'll be my next scary step.

What's yours this July? You don't have to take it alone.

Reply and tell me  I'd genuinely love to know.

With care and intention,
Jill