Naked part 3
"Just be yourself," we say, "and people will like you." Well, truth be told, some will and some won't. That's the chance you take. And that's why so often so many of us are afraid to be naked. Afraid to be ourselves. Afraid to bare our souls. Because we're convinced that NOBODY will like us if we show them who we really are. I try very hard in my life to only encourage people. If someone tells me--I mentioned this before where a couple of guys are work are really into music and are always talking to me about it... even though their music is NOT my music. But I let them talk about it. Because it's important to them. If someone tells me about something that they are excited about, I try very hard to NOT squash that. Because in this day and age it seems pretty rare that people get genuinely excited about anything. So if someone does, and they then share that excitement with you... don't be a wet blanket. Don't rain on their parade. At that point all you're teaching them is 1. Don't be excited about things or 2. Don't share the things you are excited about with me. The world needs more excitement. The world needs more people who are passionate about things. And trust me, I get it, there's not always a lot of time in the day to BE excited. Between working, and taking care of everything else that needs to be taken care of, there isn't a whole lot of time or energy left over. So, again, when somebody DOES have some nakedness, some honesty, some vulnerability, some excitement about something... why do we squash that? Why do we feel the need to make people feel bad about what they love? About who they are? I don't get it. Like... if someone is excited about something, and we're not... is it jealousy? "I don't have something like that in my life so you can't either!" That's sad. And it not only spoils THEIR fun, but it isolates us from them. It takes away any chance WE could have of making a connection with them or being involved in something. If your band--that I don't listen to--has a new album coming out... I don't have to listen to them to be excited about it for you and with you. Let me say it like this: "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep" (Romans 12:15). We don't have to judge people. Or tell them, "Uh... you're naked." We can just let people be who they are and we can empathize with them. We can let them be excited, and we can be excited with them and for them. And, on the flip side, we can let them be sad and we can be sad with them and for them. Real relationship is not about making people be who WE think they should be. Real relationship is about letting people be who they are and sticking with them through the good, the bad, and the ugly. And I'm telling you, when you let other people be who THEY are, chances are they will let you be who YOU are. You can cleave together. You won't have to cover things up or hide things. Relationships built on lies WILL fail. They have to. Because whatever is hidden WILL be uncovered and come to light. But if you're open and honest--some people still might not like you, but the people who do will be the people worth having!