"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 most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within is. 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."
From Marianne Williamson's book A Return to Love and was quoted by Nobel Prize–winner Nelson Mandela in his inaugural address.
I love this statement. The thought and action called for is so simple, yet most of us continually stand just at the brink of stepping into our own power. We wait to have our actions affirmed. We clamor for the degree or certificate or job that will announce our “arrival to success”. We eat less, exercise more and seek out the latest interventions to eradicate age, weight and appearance that in the eyes of others we think will diminish our beauty and strength. In reality, all have to do is look in the mirror of our souls to see the power that is ours; listen to the words of those who love us unconditionally or see how another’s face lights up when we offer a smile or extend a hand. When we embrace these things, as the quote above says … “as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”
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