How do you hide?

Are you the wallflower or the center of attention?  The fact is, we all hide. The question is…

how do YOU hide?

Hiding Up Front

Are you a person who likes being the center of attention and speaking up front…but who shies away from small-group or one-on-one settings because they make you feel exposed and vulnerable?

Or are you someone who has been “forced” to be up front…but you’d actually prefer to blend more into the background and take on support role instead of a leadership role?

Hiding In The Back

Maybe you prefer to be a wallflower. You talk to one or two people at a party, you like being the worker bee and you’re content being the “woman behind the man.” You’re fine in one-on-one situations and you don’t see how people could ENJOY being up front…but you can’t shake the feeling that you’d like to be the speaker or presenter on occasion.

Perhaps you’ve been enlisted as the helper and support person for a long time and are known as someone who prefers working behind the scenes…but you daydream about what it would be like to have the microphone and command an audience.

My Story

I have always had a BIG dream in my heart, although it has morphed plenty over the years—and even just in the past month!

It’s becoming clear to me that I want to be behind the scenes and allow someone ELSE to shine.

But years ago, when I knew that I was moving toward something BIG, I aspired to create a sort of “banner ministry” or a big name for myself…then realized that I was actually just hiding.

I would be in charge of the ministry, running events, speaking and teaching and the one being publicized and marketed and acclaimed…so one might wonder, how could that be hiding??

It’s just like the woman who attends women’s events or sits in Bible study small group, known for being the quiet one and the helper…yet she yearns to be leading the Bible study, or telling her story from the big platform.

She’s hiding.

We’re all hiding.

If I was the one in charge, the one on the stage, the one running things…it would make it very easy for me to avoid one-on-one interactions, and actually getting “down and dirty” with people, or them getting to know me. There was a time in my life when that kind of vulnerability was far more terrifying than speaking in front of a large audience! I’d have been hiding from those up close and personal moments (that I eventually grew to love).

When we hide, what we are REALLY doing is shrinking back from our God-sized dream…and we are short-changing ourselves, and the people we could potentially influence.

I’ve been the speaker. I’ve led workshops. And I’ve also been the one clearing tables or putting out the chairs for the workshop. I enjoy both.

But now I am more sure than ever that I belong in the background, using my gifts of helps and encouragement, so that someone else can take the stage, strut their stuff and make their mark on the world.

But now, unlike in the past, it’s because I know it’s where I belong, it’s what I’m good at it and it’s a desire of my heart that God placed there. It’s not a fear-based decision, or a way to hide.

Oh, how I long for women to come out of hiding!

To say, “Y’know, I’d really like to work with people one-on-one,” or “I’d really like to take the stage and tell my story.” To start taking steps toward their God-sized dream, whether it’s stepping into the spotlight or into the shadows.

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@tabithadumas”]Sometimes we have to get uncomfortable to find our sweet spot. [/tweetthis]

And once you find your place, it’s the best place to be.

I’d be honored if you’d pin and share.