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.