Do you hold your cards too close to your chest?
Are you someone who prefers not to share your struggles, your wins, your road map for life?
I’ve come a across a few people recently who are quite secretive about their life choices.
They hold their cards very close to their chest for one of two reasons…
Either they’re scared that if they share too much, others will beat them to the hidden treasure.
They feel that there is only so much fame and fortune to go round.
And if someone else finds the treasure first, there won’t be any left for them.
Or…
They are fearful of what other people will think of them if they share their life’s struggles.
They’re worried about being criticised or rejected.
What happens to people who live like this?
Their life is a struggle, they experience a lot of LACK in their life and end up feeling alone in this world.
I don’t know about you, but feeling alone is pretty horrible.
Why do people end up feeling alone?
Because sharing is what creates connection, deep bonds and long-lasting friendships.
The equation really is simple: ‘What you give out is what you receive’.
Give love and others will give love back to you.
Help others and others will help you.
Share your wisdom and others will share their wisdom with you.
When I realised this I started to share, well everything!
Everything in my life; the good times, the hard times, the awkward times.
I offered people the key to the treasure chest so they didn’t have to go through the hard knocks I’d experienced in my quest for the jewels.
No longer did I hold back on what helped me and hindered me in my journey.
And what happened when I started to share more freely?
I stopped feeling alone and others started sharing their pearls of wisdom with me!
When it came time to self-publish my first book, The Upside of Down, all I had to do was ask, and people offered their time free of charge to show me the way.
This has been a common occurrence in my life.
Now when I want to learn something, it is delivered right to my doorstop.
And this doesn’t only happen to me!
For my fiancé’s birthday I wanted to get him something special.
Knowing my fiancé admired musician Mark Wilkinson and looked up to him as someone who was living his own dream of being a successful musician I approached Mark’s manager.
I asked him if Mark would be willing to speak to my fiancé about the music industry.
What did he say?
Yes!
What followed was a one-hour conversation where Mark spoke to my fiancé free of charge answering any questions he had about how to make money out of music and how to build a fan base.
Why did he do this?
Because he could.
Because he was paying it forward.
He wanted to help others forge their way in music.
When you give freely, you’re putting positive vibes out to the world.
And those positive vibes will always be returned.
It’s the law of reciprocity.
Doing good for others – by way of sharing our own personal life lessons – makes us feel good and actually boosts our immune system.
Most importantly, it stops both the giver and the receiver from feeling alone.
Not sure how you can pay it forward? Then take a peek at this list of ways you can share the love.
If you’re feeling alone maybe it’s time you started to share more.
Let those cards fall from your chest.
One good deed may not seem a like a lot, but if everyone did something nice for someone else, then there would be a lot less people feeling alone in the world.
We all have gems to share with others; just sharing our own struggles with another person can stop them from feeling alone.
Feeling alone is one of the worst afflictions and one of the key causes of depression.
The more we share, the more we feel connected.
And if there’s one thing humans crave in this lifetime, it’s connection.