We hold ourselves back all the time. We bite our tongue in a meeting when we know we should speak up. We keep our writing private instead of letting it help someone else. We pretend our artwork is just doodles to ensure we aren’t hurt if no one wants to buy it. Holding back isn’t just about fear of rejection. Holding back is an identity crisis.

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I used to run cross-country in High School. I wasn’t very good. OK, I was awful. But one thing I could do really well was give it my all if I could see the finish line. In the last 30 seconds, I could expend enough energy to quadruple my speed. I always had enough left in the tank to have a nice smile when I emerged from the woods to the straightaway.

But my reserve tank was never met with accolades. In fact, my coach always scolded me for it. Having more in the tank at the end meant I wasn’t giving it my all for the majority of the race. My time, and my position against the other runners, reiterated my problem every time. While I enjoyed being able to sprint at the end, it wasn’t helping me win.

The Three Gorges Dam in China is the largest dam in the world. The dam holds back 5 trillion gallons of water. It would be the equivalent of capturing and storing all the water produced by a major hurricane and then some.

You and I are like the Three Gorges Dam.

We actively withhold of ourselves from other people. Our heart and mind contains valuable, precious, helpful, encouraging, and motivational information. Our words can life people out of dark places and set them on mountain tops. In one breath we can illuminate something so complicated that it appears simple to the masses. But we resist. We fight it. We choose to be fake over being authentic. We seek fitting in rather than standing out.

Our creative talents, art, writing, business endeavors, and acts of service can change lives and transform communities. The keyword in all of this is can.

The Three Gorges Dam in China can release the water. It can bring life to people and nature downstream. It can also bring destruction. But if the dam stays up and closed, the water doesn’t do a thing for anyone.

The way in which a dam is recharged and fill up from water upstream and rain events is the same way we are filled up. Other people pour their lives into us. We read and explore, grow and mature. Our dams are filling up to the brim more and more each day we interact with the world and people around us.

A good dam however doesn’t just stop up the water. Good dams release the right amount of water at the right time. Never too much, as to cause destruction downstream, but never too little, as to backup and damage the land upstream or restrict life giving water downstream.

We were not created to be closed off like the Dead Sea. We were intended to share. Intended to open up. Intended to make a difference and cause a change with the right words, the right art, the right creativity at the right time.

The right time is now. The right time is tomorrow. And the right time is in the days, weeks, months, and years to come.

Are you holding back your creativity from the rest of us? Are you keeping your best work, your most authentic self stopped up? Change is scary but releasing life giving creativity is worth it. Each person has incredible gifts to offer. But they don’t do any good unless you let them run.

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