Intimidation

I know this is a loaded, open ended question, but those are the best kind!

I am intimidated by MANY things, er, should I say many PEOPLE! I would term these as people I think are more important than me.

Ok, before you post some comment about our worth in God etc (actually, before you post it, please go see last nights post… it will give you my feelings on the matter)… Anyway before you berate me, hear me out.

We all measure ‘importance’ by different values. Much of this is how we are raised, and the experiences we have, but I think we all would agree that the amount of POWER someone has directly relates to how important we think they are.

If they have the power to fire you from your job, they are pretty darn important. If they have the power to hire you for a job, again, very important. If they have the power to, oh, say arrest and put you in jail, yep, lots of power!

God of course is the most important, and, well, wouldn’t you know it, the most powerful too!

I try to remind myself that if I honor and obey God, I shouldn’t be intimidated by him. If I do my job well, my boss shouldn’t look so scary to me. In school, if I obeyed the rules, the principle shouldn’t seem so looming. If I am driving the speed limit, I shouldn’t freak out when I see a cop (ha ha, yeah right, like that will ever happen!)

So, why do we still flip out when one of these people approach us? Why are we still awed by them? Yep, it’s the power.

Case in point: Yesterday, on Terry Whalin’s wonderful blog, I posted a comment to his blog. I try not to do this too often (I don’t want to annoy him…) but he has some great stuff there too! Anyway, I always like to check back later to see if someone else replied (or if he happened to show mercy and reply to my random comment…) and low and behold, there was a reply.

But, it wasn’t by Terry (although that would have been awesome too!). It was by Michael Hyatt, President of Thomas Nelson here in Nashville. And, get this, HE MENTIONED MY NAME! Yes, that is right, at the end of his comment he wrote, “And Krista is right,” etc.. The rest didn’t even matter. He typed my name!!

So, after I squealed and ran around the house for a minute, I lectured myself. I was acting childish and unprofessional. I shouldn’t let a big name intimidate me. I felt like Ugly Betty, “I’m a intellegent, confident business woman…” Well, then I said, who cares, it’s my own house and I can do what I want, so squealed a little more.

I have this same issue at work. Last year I was promoted to Payroll Manager and now report to our CAO. I have this weird habit of emailing him updates on our department instead of bucking up and actually talking with him (his office is right next to mine, I seriously am just chicken). I do talk to him when necessary, but I am still in this state of “Oh my gosh he is so important and I am just this little peon not worthy of the dirt on his shoes…”

I am getting better at this though. I am trying to be myself and not be so intimidated, and remembering my own admonition from yesterday’s post that God has made us worthy, and people, no matter of their power here on earth, are just God’s creation. We are all in the same boat. We all put our pants on one leg at a time (although when I’m in a hurry, I’ve been known to try to do both at one time… That’s not a pretty sight, trust me…)

But good grief, it isn’t always easy! For all you “big” people out there, thank you for making us little people’s day. Little things like our name in a comment, a pat on the back, a big publishing contract (ahem), or just a word of encouragement really make our day!