Recently Michelle Obama did her last White House interview with Oprah Winfrey and amongst other things she described how she believes in “living out loud”. Showing her values by living them, not explaining or defending them.
What a great reminder this is about the responsibility I and each one of us have.
Living out Loud by being a living example of our own values every single day and not by putting others down or judging our opponents. Living out Loud by not polluting conversations and actions with our anger or hateful thoughts and by not engaging in fearful conversations about all the things that are wrong.
It starts with you and me in the small decisions we make every day. We need to live it and be so clear that others can be inspired by it. This is where change will start.
I know this is something I constantly have to remind myself about: How would I act RIGHT NOW if I should be true to my values? Sometimes it seems so much easier to cave in and take the least controversial stand.
But by now I also know the price of doing just that for too long: How almost physically nauseating it is to compromise my most important values. How painful it can be to be politically correct a whole evening at a dinner party, where the values displayed both in actions and conversations are so far away from what I believe in. The anxiety of wanting to be true and the hang over from not daring. Knowing that nothing will ever change if I don’t live the values I believe in.
Luckily I also know how intoxicating it is to break free and let go of the fear of not being liked or even being ridiculed; when I forget that I am afraid and I can show by example and by not putting other people down.
And when I dare, how it often turns out that there are surprisingly many people in the same room sharing my values and dreams but just as afraid to be true or say it out loud.
We need to live out load and be the role models our children will get inspired by. This is my wish for 2017.
A year where we dare to LIVE OUT LOUD and where each one of us lives our personal values (For more about finding your personal values PRESS here) to the best of our abilities.
Thank You for reading my blog this year. I am looking forward to Living out Loud with you in 2017.
Happy New Year
