Let Your Light Shine

"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 were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is 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." Marianne Williamson This quote by Marianne Williamson is my absolute favorite and always gives me a chill up my spine. I feel this way about it because I know it deep in my heart to be true. I know I have had a hard time accepting the light that is within me. I know that I have hidden it many times to please others. How about you? Does this ring true for you as well? How many of us hide the light we have inside because we are afraid of what people will think? We don't want to appear immodest or like we think we are "all that". But aren't we all "all that" in some way? Don't we all have a place where we can truly shine? We all came into this world with talents and gifts. We truly are doing no one any favors by hiding them or even just diminishing them in any way. We were born with those gifts for a reason. We don't know what lives we touch by embracing and sharing our gifts. We tend to be so hard on ourselves. Why is that? Why can't we see the beauty that we all possess? Why can't we see this light that is inside all of us? We don't see it in ourselves and we don't see it in one another. I think we get a glimpse of this beauty and light when we first fall in love with someone. All we can see is what is right about that person. We can't see any of their flaws or problems, only their perfection. What is so bad about that? We always talk about how we have to be realistic, but why? Just imagine what the world would be like if we all treated ourselves and one another like we were in love. All we would see would be the good. They say what we focus on, we get more of. So why not focus on the good? Why do we have to be so darn "realistic"? If it is true that we get more of what we focus on, then wouldn't it follow that if we were mainly looking at the good, we would get more of it? I believe in my heart we are all trying our best. It is time to start seeing it. We need to stop jumping to the worst conclusion, both of ourselves and of one another. Wouldn't it feel great to have someone only notice your best? Wouldn't it make you want to make them proud of you? Wouldn't that inspire you? It's time for us to step up and start inspiring greatness in ourselves and one another by even just recognizing it in the beginning. At the end of every yoga class I've ever taken the instructor says, "Namaste". This means that the spirit in me sees the spirit in you. That is so beautiful. It means I am seeing your perfection. I recognize mine, and I see yours. We already know that spirit is perfect, complete, whole. There are no flaws in spirit, and spirit is our essence. It is time for us all to claim this birthright, and begin walking in it. My goal is to inspire all of us to recognize this light that's in us and then to let it shine to the world. I am convinced that if we all began to live in this place of light more often, we would bring more light, love, and healing to the world. We have to first recognize the light in ourselves and completely own it. Then we can pass it on. This is the healing we all need. Think of one way you can let your light shine today and do it.