You might have heard this quote before, and heard that it was from Nelson Mandela, but it is actually from Maryanne Williamson, and Nelson Mandela quoted it in a speech. Either way, now you get my thoughts and ramblings on it....
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' 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 people won't feel insecure around you. 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 all of us. And when 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.”
I think of this quote all the time, run it over and over in my head. I wonder really if we are scared of our light. Or more realistically if I am scared of mine. Am I scared of the power I have? Sometimes and in some ways I am sure that is true. And in and of itself that is a powerful quote, but lately my mind has gone somewhere else with this...
I don't think we are afraid of our light, or of our goodness. I think though that a lot of us are afraid of success. For possibly a few reasons. Of course most of us are afraid to try and fail, but then even more of us are afraid to find out either way, so we don't try. Perhaps we are scared that we will get everything that we want, and then we will change our minds or decide that it turned out after all not to be what we wanted, and will have to start all over again. Possibly we are scared of the effort involved in achieving what we actually want. But then again, we might get all that we want and realize it still requires effort to maintain. So I see so many people (me included) who don't try enough in whatever facet of their lives because they have already decided that they don't deserve success, or won't get success. So rather than find out that they may be wrong, they don't ever take the risks involved in getting to the success. A 50/50 chance gives much better odds than sitting still and having a 100% chance that nothing will happen.
The more life I live and the more people I know, the more I see this fear affecting lives. It affects mine and I am sure in some ways it affects yours. Either way, I think that effort is a much better past time than fear. Time spent in fear, or especially time spent paralyzed because of fear, is time wasted. I hope that you and I can try to spend less and less time in fear and doubt and insecurity and unsure-ness, and more time putting in the effort required to get what we want out of life.
Try that one on for a new year's resolution!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
AMEN Sista! AMEN AMEN AMEN! I, too, have been looking at my life and wondering why I am afraid to succeed. Part of me has decided that I can think and think of why I am afraid, and that is just another excuse to not try so hard now, but to just keep thinking and sitting. So, I guess I can try to think about WHY I am afraid of success, and I still will a little, but I have decided that ACTION is better. I will try more for success and then maybe when I get it, I can see why I was so afraid of it. I really think that part of it is that I think when I succeed I will have to do more, and be more, and get REALLY out of my comfort zone. I think I am willing to do that. But I must not be ALL THE WAY willing, or I would've done it already! Ok, enough of that. Action time. As in, get the kiddos to bed! :o)
Post a Comment