This week, as more about the Epstein files continues to circulate in the media, Pandora’s box has been wide open, and I don’t think it can be closed or its contents put back into hiding. While reading a detailed article by Lissa Rankin, MD, on Substack, I found myself in a rabbit hole. You can read it here.
Reading about the weak moments of people who helped me through my darkest times was heartbreaking, but I won’t allow their lack of judgement to take away from my personal growth and development.
I remember being judged by a family member for having personal issues while working as a life coach. She wondered how I could help people when I have personal problems. I didn’t take her criticism personally because I knew that doing the work on yourself doesn’t make you immune to having problems; it simply gives you tools and techniques to deal with them.
My disappointment with the leaders mentioned in Lissa’s article isn’t that they did what they did; it’s that, instead of taking accountability and using the experience as a teachable moment, they hid it. It’s wild to me that the same industry that taught me that other people’s opinions of me are none of my business would spend so much time cultivating an inauthentic image of itself.
I’m pretty sure I mentioned Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, and Louise Hay in my first book about my journey through depression after the death of my father. What I wrote about their contributions to my journey still holds true, so I have no regrets.
This latest eye-opener is a reminder that we shouldn’t put anyone on a pedestal. No one is infallible. It’s sad that, at a time when everyone is talking about living authentically, so many illusions are still being maintained out of fear of being judged and of losing followers and customers.
It’s also a reminder that everything done in the dark will eventually come to light, and you have to be prepared for the consequences. 🩵