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 doesn't 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's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our 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.
Nelson Mandela, Inaugural speech, 1994
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 doesn't 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's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our 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.
Nelson Mandela, Inaugural speech, 1994
Well..........why is this so? Why are we so afraid of our own light? Is it because we think we would have to step up to the plate, expected to hit a homerun every time? Is it because we have tried to shine and have been told to tone it down? Is it because it goes against the lessons we were taught to be humble and non-assuming? Are we a bunch of chickens?
How was it that the world never forgot Mandela, like we have many others who have been unjustly imprisoned? Could it be that he lived these words, breathing in the meaning every moment he was behind bars? His light shone through the fortified walls. We felt his strength. His light allowed him to overcome his fear and suffering in order to be able to walk away free............torch held high.
How was it that the world never forgot Mandela, like we have many others who have been unjustly imprisoned? Could it be that he lived these words, breathing in the meaning every moment he was behind bars? His light shone through the fortified walls. We felt his strength. His light allowed him to overcome his fear and suffering in order to be able to walk away free............torch held high.
7 comments:
YES! I'm first!
He and a few others as well. Martin Luther King... Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa...even JFK. Many others too.
But you are right, why not more, what are we afraid of?
It's easier to remain in our cocoons than to stick our necks out to take a risk?
When I read that quote yesterday, I thought about your essay on apathy and the excellent points you made.
What I always wonder about is....what propelled these people to take the lead? Faith, a cause that they were passionate about? A sense that they were born to lead? I don't know.
My fear is that whenever I put myself out there...really believing that I am capable of anything...I am snapped right back into the realm of "being unprofessional". My sense is that I am being accused of something that I know deep down inside I am not so at the end of the day it is just sometimes easier to play the game and not stretch to my full potential because it amounts to less than my expectation of who I am inside. The inside me gets hurt that my potential is be thrown back at me as a detriment so I don't bother showing the inside on the outside...I wear my shawl under my sweater if you will.
Sometimes I think its difficult to know which "hills" to fight over if you know what I mean.....especially if one is working in an environment where one's intentions are not interpreted correctly, n'est pas? :)
I think most can relate to your fears Sunny.............I know I can. Yet....isn't it best just to keep going at it? If it's important? It hurts to be stung and there will be MANY around us who don't get it.....who are REALLY afraid to shine brightly.....but as Mandela points out......
The brighter the light....the more apt that others will begin to brighten. :)
Why are we so afraid to put ourselves out there? For the simple reason we don't enjoy having our head cut off... or being labeled as a troublemaker.
This may sound sexist, but I find that whenever I compassionate about something and display my feelings or opinions, I'm labeled a BITCH. Since I know I am nothing of the sort, it offends my very soul that someone would automatically come to that conclusion about me without ever listening to my side long enough to find out otherwise.... as if they are formulating their opinion while I am speaking, and never really listening to what I am saying....just because they may take an opposite view. It has happened many more times than I can count, especially since I am an only woman in a partnership of three people. I have one partner who pretty much calls the shots, and I've learned to find ways around his controling behavior. It's the only way the partnership works.
Of course that puts me at the low end of the totem pole... but I have my theory about that. I may be at the bottom, but that makes me stronger for holding their weight.... and my customers know this without me ever saying a word.
Great post, as always!
Hi Ellen.
I hear you!! Loud and clear. I do believe that assertive women encounter this often. Either a bitch or perimenopausally vapid!
what gives with that still?
Whenever I come across this, it takes all my energy not to become a self-fulfilling prophecy and tell them to f...... off.
Amen sister... I know exactly what you mean!
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