These words from Nelson Mandela really struck me when I first heard them, and recently I had a client say something very similar to me. How do you resonate with them?
"Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure.
"It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented and 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 born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some; it is in everyone.
"And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
As a woman who worked many years within a patriarchal institution, I know about "shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure." In the end, it didn't make a difference. And it surely didn't make me happy nor did it allow me to soar in the same way I might have.
What do you need to do to "let your light shine"? To be out there in a big way? Are you being urged to something more in your life—to move from fear into joy? Let's talk. Contact me if you want to explore this.
This is an eternally fascinating subject to me! We are called to share our God-given talents, employing a loving and good-humored spirit to do so. Yet, we must always be careful on the "tightrope of life," not to lose balance and fall off the one side into pridefulness, or the other side into frozen inaction. So much of life is about finding a good balance, I think.
ReplyDeleteCheryl