Who are your mentors?

I was just thinking this morning about who my mentors are in this season of my life. Let me clarify that my current mentors have no idea they’re my mentors. They are mentoring me through their books and podcasts. I have never met most of them but, one day hope to meet them all somehow.

I am a learner. What I mean by that is, I love learning and have several bookshelves full of books and workbooks that I’ve gathered over the years. I am passionate about growth in myself and my relationships. I currently am reading three or four books. I know, that is a little difficult to do but, it’s working for me. ;)

 I was recently putting together my resume. I haven’t had a resume in over 30 years. It was so interesting to me to see my life experiences on paper. It led me to think about who my mentors have been over the years.

There have been many, too many to list but, I still carry the power of their words with me years later. My current mentors are those who carry a similar message as those previously but, who are encouraging me to dig deeper into the matters of my heart in this season of my life.

Some of my current mentors are Rachel Hollis, Brene’ Brown, Suzanne Stabile, Ian Morgan Cron, Henry Cloud and John Townsend, Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton. As I listen to these people and read their books there is something inside of me that connects and comes alive. It’s like they are shining a light on a part of me that has been there all along but it took their words to make that part of me come alive and when that part comes alive it gives me energy, hope, a sense that I'm okay and can embrace those parts of me that I’ve been unsure about.

For so many years I wanted a mentor. I prayed for that for years and I have had some great ones. But, some of the things that have impacted me the most have come from people whom I have never met but have spoken to me in some of the hardest seasons of my life.

There is a thread of commonality in each of them. They challenge me to get to know the real me. They encourage me to just be me and embrace the parts of myself that I’ve rejected and thought were so weird. They give me courage to take a deep breath and let myself be fully known even when I want to hide.

I am a One on the Enneagram and that means that I fight the voices in my head ALOT! Those voices aren’t encouraging. They can make me feel driven to always be perfect, to beat myself up when I feel like I fall short. They can paralyze me from even trying something until I get every detail worked out and then I may even talk myself out of it.

BUT, I’m learning to shut those voices off more and more each day. Sure some days I’m better at it than others but, I’m learning to give myself grace and that was something that I had a really hard time doing for most of my life.

So, as I was preparing my resume it got me thinking and connecting the dots of my life. I am so thankful that over the years I’ve had so many mentors at just the right times. Each season, each day I’ve had the most amazing and powerful mentors. They may not have been sitting in my living room having coffee with me in the flesh but, they were there in ways that have impacted me so deeply and still are. And, I can get my books out or turn on a podcast and hang out with them anytime.

Who are your mentors in this season? Who is impacting you and changing and challenging you? Who is speaking to that part of you that’s been hidden or hurt?