“Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
– Quoted by Nelson Mandela, Marianne Williamson – A Return to Love
This is pretty powerful stuff, made even more powerful by the man who quoted it. It turns our normal thinking upside down. It turns my thinking upside down. The British way is to be self deprecating, to be shrinking. To criticise oneself even. Women, myself included, can refuse compliments. We can be scared to admit our strength and our gorgeousness.
Yet letting our light shine gives others permission to shine. What does that mean for you?
I would love to support you in being even more brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous.
ACTION CHALLENGE: Open a new document on your computer and note down what this means to you for you and your life right now. Reread this every day for a week and ponder each day what it means for you to shine. At the end of the week, look for themes in what you have written.
Over to you
What gets in the way of letting your light shine?
Leave your comments in the reply box below.
Fabulous, I was feeling especially “self deprecating” today and thought of this poem and I immediately began to feel hopeful, again! I am fabulous and I wont apologize!
i love the poem every time i heare it it mas me think tha i am somebody in the big world out here
I think that the poem is excellent and everyone should follow it and i think the poem should be made more public and people need to be more aware of it
This poem has really taken me out of the darkness in my life and reminded me of who I can be. This poem has helped me to keep pushing forward in life.