“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, 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.”
This quote has found its way into Nelson Mandela's 1994 Inaugural address, the Akeelah and the Bee movie, and countless blogs. It was originally written penned by Marianne Williamson in A Return to Love
There are days when I feel myself shrinking as the thought suggests, but there are other days when I feel just plain inadequate--no shrinking, no fear of greatness, just frustration at not being what I know I can be. I have been this way for most of my life--yet I have accomplished some great things for me. I have a wonderful, actually incredible family. I have a few degrees from institutions of higher learning, successful career, business leader, coach, scoutmaster, community and religious leader, published some books, some music albums, well traveled..., well you get the picture. But I believe this is all so very relative to what is really important. Some of the greatest people I have known are barely literate, or have had to work as a maid in a foreign country to keep her family fed at home, or have sacrificed their life for their child. They know the secret of overcoming this fear of failure: "Should there be anyone who feels he is too weak to do better because of that greatest of fears, the fear of failure, there is no more comforting assurance to be had than the words of the Lord: 'My grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them'" These are the heroes I hope people offer for the Treasured Principles site. We all know the celeb names--and nothing against them, but I hope we can also celebrate the quiet champions of greatness that overcome the world everyday in their unique ways.
The companion thought to Williamson's words of counsel might be Kazuro Okakura's observation: Those who cannot feel the littleness of great things in themselves are apt to overlook the greatness of little things in others. So when we are trying to let our light shine for the right reason-- to liberate others, let's not forget that our light is merely a reflection of a higher light--not of our making and that we should celebrate the light of others--knowing its true source.
Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all. ~William Temple In releasing ourselves from that self thinking, we are able to give the one thing we can truely give. Neal A. Maxwell, said it this way: "The submission of one's will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God's altar. The many other things we 'give,' . . . are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God's will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give!" That is how to let our light shine, show greatness, be humble and teachable.
