Marianne Williamson
In my stress management seminars which I have been giving for 8 years, I have been using this quote:
“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.”
I had believed that this was from Nelson Mandela’s inaugural speech. Walking around the wood opposite my house this morning with the gorgeous Alfie dog, I was thinking about yesterday’s blog, about fear, and my mind alighted on this paragraph.
Back to my desk, I decided to put the first lines into Google, that led me to Marianne Williamson, who penned this paragraph in “Return to love”. One click on Amazon bought me a used book ‘in good condition’. What she wrote is so profound and so very true to my own life.
So let’s vow today to live surpassing our fear. Let’s not make ourselves small, as I have so often done, to make others feel better.
Have a nice day! Jackie x