Stand In The Light, Risk Being Seen As You Are
“Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light” – Brene Brown
Jordan Smith won “The Voice” and this was his first release with his first album, “Stand In The Light”. If this song is any indication of what he can do, he is going to have an amazing career. I can so identify with being tired of hiding who you are.
I spent most of my life afraid of being seen, afraid of the judgments of others. This song is so liberating. I think that most of us hide who we are. The reasons are legion, but most of them come from fears of being judged and found wanting.
“I, for one, am actually still incredibly idealistic, and I still can credibly or very strongly believe that you have to keep fighting for what you believe in, because it’s only when you stop that you’ve truly lost” – Vanessa Kerry
I decided a few years ago to stop fighting against myself. To stop being invisible. To instead gather up all of my tattered scraps of courage and stand up on stage. The lure of invisibility still tries to creep back into my life, disguising what it is doing. But I am becoming better at recognizing it.
Someone gave me a gift of recognizing that I used a cloak of invisibility and removed it. My choice was to never put it on again. It is part of the reason I write these blogs. It is my hope that I can say something that starts you being curious of how you are hiding and playing small. That you will have the courage to step out into the light and be seen. To reveal to the world the magnificent being that you are.
Instead I decided that the world is a nice place, full of wonderful people, and that is how I want to approach my life. The majority of people will help me, believe in me, and support me. There may be a few who throw stones, but I am being braver than they can ever be, by standing in the light and being me.
When Jordan was on “The Voice” he talked about the mean things that people had said about him, including a music teacher who told him his voice wasn’t any good and he should give up his dreams of being a singer.
This song is based on how you have to decide that you are not going to let others make you hide. That you can be brave enough, to not only stand up and be who you are, but to take center stage, under the lights and shout to the heavens. That is how you can be seen as who you are – no holding back any part of yourself.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” – Martin Luther King Jr
Sometimes when you look out at what is happening in the world, you see people with widely different beliefs clashing against each other. People who have taken on beliefs that allow them to perpetrate crimes against their fellow man believing that this is the right thing to do.
They don’t treat others with different skin colors, cultures, beliefs, religions, sexual orientations as a child of God. Instead, they condemn them and run-down innocent people down with a vehicle, or shoot them, or blow them up with bombs. When will man become what God intended us all to be?
“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness” – Desmond Tutu
This is why you can’t be a silent witness. You can’t just continue to look the other way. You can’t be secretly glad that what happened, didn’t happen to you or your loved ones. You need to remember that every single person on this earth is your brother or sister.
You have been given these wonderful, amazing gifts to help change the world. Martin Luther King Jr.’s gift was to speak out against racial prejudice and injustice. To light a fire inside all of our hearts with his “I Have A Dream” speech, that is still burning.
Your gifts were given to you, just like his speeches were given to him. He had the courage to stand up and be seen. Your gifts will mean nothing unless you also have the same courage, to stand up and be seen…,
As Jordan says in his song, you need to stand in the light. You need to stand up for what you believe in. To be yourself, loving, trusting and respecting yourself. If you can’t do that for yourself, you will never be able to do that for others.
He says to never apologize for being who you are. Instead of regretting the past, learn from it and be a better person. He reminded us that God can use a small spark to light a firestorm.
What are your dreams, visions, your life purpose? Are you on track to bring them into reality and complete them? Have you allowed distractions to sidetrack you? Are you unclear on what your life purpose is or how to bring it into reality?
