Have you ever taken a leap and just "did the damn thing" because you had to? Well Story #14 is a story about this exact situation. The Lessons I took away are:

- Leveraging painful lessons in service to others is therapeutic

- serving others unlocks courage and reveals untapped gifts & talents

The story begins by introducing my hero, Rene. He is my baby brother, born when I was a senior in high school. It was not the standard brotherly relationship. I had to play a different role, one that I wasnt prepared for. We have all been faced with situations that we werent totally ready for and somehow made our way through it. 

In this case I saw a familiar situation playing itself out, except it wasnt me that was gonna be living the pain. It was my baby brother this time and I was not OK with it. This is the part where he saved my life. I knew the situation he was in, needing guidance, needing an example, needing someone to ask questions of. I didnt want him to wonder around aimlessly losing pieces of himself along the way. So I decided to be the man he and I both needed.

I started by being visible, being present. I showed up at his school, I spent time with him and his friends, and hit up the PlayStation with him. Some of that stuff was easy, but getting involved with his school was way out of my comfort zone. The administrators found my involvement strange, people that knew me snickered about me trying to "play responsible". Because up until then I was the poster child for irresponsibility. This is when I discovered this "imposter syndrome" thing. But I couldnt resign myself to it. 

I had to change my perspective about it. I decided to embrace it. I embraced the fact that yes I was an imposter. I was playing a role I had no experience in, I was building a world that did not exist, I was pretending to be what I needed to be for the 2 of us to become what we could be. The courage to do so came from acting in service for someone I cared about. Knowing that I was doing something for his benefit was like an armor that protected me from my self doubt and the judging eyes of others. I knew that wasting any energy in defending myself, or arguing against the "wheres his mother at" comments would be like stealing from my brothers future. 

So is there someone in your life that brings the courage out in you? Are there situations that youve been avoiding because youre not qualified? If there is I am here to tell you that youre robbing the world of your gifts and talents. Try sharing them gifts and talents in service to others and tell us what you discover. This will get you on the path to Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be