“It used to be about trying to do something. Now it’s about trying to be somebody”—Margaret Thatcher

In the age of social networking, so many of us are clamoring for somebody status. Now more than ever, anyone can “be somebody”—famous, infamous, celebrated, followed; validated. Why is it so important to be acknowledged and seen by others, to prove we are somebody? We already ARE!

The real mark of “somebodyness” is what we do with it. It’s what we do—period.

A dear friend recently said to me, “I feel God most when I’m doing the work.” This made me think of my time in China during a week spent with disabled orphans, and how I felt most fulfilled and closest to God while caring for some of His children.

Before my faith, my beauty cause, and post as positivity mascot, all I had was desire for fulfillment, to make a difference—and fear. For many years, my fear that I wasn’t good enough led me to inaction, self-criticism, and a feeling quite like unrequited love—distrust that I could do the things I was dying to do. Not writing, not singing, not standing for things I knew were right. I WAS dying—by not doing anything at all.

When I was fired from my first job as an administrative assistant for a famous New York theater, all my fears were confirmed. I began to eat my way from a muscular size 2 to a soft 8 or 10 in just two months. Gaining the weight wasn’t the problem, the problem was my lack of faith in my abilities. Like you, I was equipped and born for a purpose. Yet every part of my mind tried to rob me of this truth. I took my disappointment for truth instead.

Luckily, I could only put off my inner greatness for so long—and neither can you! We ALL have it in us. No matter what we have done to this point, the best part of ourselves, perhaps our greatest contribution is waiting to emerge—to be freed from our fears!

My second job a year later, as a grant writer for another New York theater, led me to eventually perform, advocate disability and beauty, and, to my surprise, teach. Had I known what was coming, had I remembered that we are ALL somebody, I probably would not have eaten my weight in Rice Krispy Treats. I would not have stayed so long with the wrong man. I would not have let myself give up at all.

So to anyone who has given up or is even thinking about it: You already ARE somebody, so why not do something GREAT?

I’m Xian Horn, I am Somebody and so are you! I’m Positively Positive too!

*Please share with us below: What are you dying/living to do?

Xian Horn is a joyful half-Asian woman with Cerebral Palsy serving as writer, mentor, and positivity activist. A member of an international network of extraordinary women, 85 Broads, she was heralded by founder Janet Hanson as an “amazing role model for all women.” With her personal stories and ongoing mentoring work, Xian Horn is invested in contributing positively to self-esteem and the collective self-image, especially for women. To support her True Beauty efforts for people with disabilities, please join Xian’s Facebook community.