Sometimes, it’s in the stillness that we see how far we’ve come — especially on our journey of unhiding.
How often do you take the time to pause and reflect on your progress?
In a previous UNHIDING issue (April 2024), I discussed the power of the pause — how taking a moment between the steps of unhiding brings clarity. This time, I want to focus on how pausing helps us see how far we’ve come.
It’s easy to get caught up in daily challenges and feel the urge to hide — during an awkward conversation or when you feel the weight of someone’s stare. But when you take a moment to reflect, you realize just how much ground you’ve covered and how far you’ve come. Once you start unhiding, it’s hard to go back, even though the temptation is there.
Small Steps Toward Unhiding
In a recent interview on PIX11’s New York Living, I shared how young people transitioning into new environments can start by revealing small pieces of themselves, slowly building trust. It’s a process that takes time and reflection. The same goes for any of us — sometimes, we don’t realize the steps we’ve taken to unlock our potential and how much we’ve grown until we take a moment to pause and reflect.
Seeing Your Progress
During my conversation on WNYC’s All of It with Alison Stewartthis week, we talked about how hiding keeps us from living fully and how freeing it is to embrace who we truly are. That’s the beauty of the pause: it allows us to see the progress we’ve made. You may still have moments of wanting to hide, but each step forward makes it harder to return to that hidden version of yourself.
Embrace Your Best Self
Maybe you’ve noticed it too. When you pause, you realize the things you once hid — a difference, a dream, an insecurity — don’t hold you back as much anymore. You’re stepping into your full potential and embracing your truth, and once that process starts, it’s difficult to stop.
My new book, Unhide and Seek: Live Your Best Life, Do Your Best Work, explores this in depth. It’s a reminder that the journey of unhiding doesn’t happen all at once — it’s a series of steps, small moments of courage, and sometimes, a much-needed pause to reflect on how far we’ve come.
Now, I invite you to take your own ‘pause’:
- Reflect on how far you’ve come in your journey of unhiding.
- What parts of yourself have you revealed? How has it transformed you?
Join Us on the Next Steps: Share your story, connect with others, and take the next step toward embracing your best self. Let’s build a world where authenticity and connection thrive.
You can begin by following along on social media or picking up Unhide and Seek to dive deeper into your journey of living fully and authentically.
Warmest, Ruth
Thank you for being part of the UNHIDING community.
