I’ve said it myself, “play big in your own life.” I’ve enthusiastically implored the groups I’ve spoken to and my one-on-one clients as well to “stop playing small and play big in your own life!” And until a few nights ago as I sat under the night sky and saw breathtakingly bright, magnificent stars and constellations, I didn’t think those words could be misleading or God forbid, bad advice. But I had to wonder.

You see, on this night I felt really, really small. Small, not because I’m unimportant or inadequate. Small, not because of how I showed up during the day, it was a decent day. But small, because in this big, huge, gargantuan-sized world, I am, in fact, small. We all are.

So I sat there gazing up for a little while longer and I let my “smallness” sink in. Within  a few minutes, I was laughing out loud as I recalled a few things I had taken really seriously and very personally during the day…the kind of things that made this a decent day and not a great day. Take a look:

• I had gotten majorly-frustrated when my attempt to make a veggie burger from scratch didn’t work out and led to us having frozen pizza a lot later than planned for dinner not to mention a very messy kitchen that served as a reminder of my failure.

• I had gotten my feelings hurt and I then got defensive when I was told “there’s already a life coach in our group, so you can’t join us,” by a professional organization I thought I might align with as I continue to grow my business.

• I had felt down when I couldn’t button a pair of shorts earlier in the day because, well, let’s just say things are shifting.

Thank goodness my “smallness” was allowing me to see each of these things in a lot less serious and personal way! We still had something to eat for dinner! There are LOTS of groups to which I will be able to contribute! And those shorts, well, I know exactly how to remedy that “button problem and it wont’ kill me!”

My “smallness” gave me permission to step back for a moment and as a result, I was feeling so much better and after about ten more minutes something amazing started happening…I began to feel sort of BIG.

Thank goodness, not the kind of big like when my shorts were too tight. But BIG in the sense of feeling that even though I’m small, I am a part of this wonderful place. BIG in the sense that I believe it is no accident or some fluke that I am here. (I believe the same is true for you too!) BIG in the sense of feeling that somehow I am connected to everything around me. BIG in the sense that I am grateful for the privilege of being given this life to live.

I was able to see what was and was not really important in my life and that felt BIG.

And then I realized that the only way that I could have experienced those feelings of BIG, was to first experience the feelings of small. The only way I can show up BIG in my own life is to take the time to see what’s really important to me and then HONOR those things while letting the other less important stuff fall away. Because if I don’t do that, then I think everything is serious and everything is personal. And it is not.

Feeling small while sitting underneath breathtakingly bright, magnificent stars and constellations is one thing. Feeling small in your own life is another thing entirely.

Take the time to notice what’s really important to you and line up your life so that you honor those things. That’s playing BIG and you can bet I definitely, wholeheartedly and yes, very enthusiastically, implore you to do just that!

What you do next matters . . .