Today’s first came to me via my email. I don’t like chain emails, especially the ones that promise big things if you respond quickly, and dire consequences if you fail to play along! This email was a type I had never seen before and had a request that I was happy to respond to.
The idea was simple and beautiful. Send your favorite inspirational quote, poem, meditation, or prayer to the person at the top of the list. Then remove the first person, move the second person to the top and add your name in the #2 spot. The letter is then forwarded on to 20 friends. Some of my friends received one of these emails from me this afternoon, unknowingly contributing to my first!
I had to decide which inspirational quote I wanted to send to the person at the top of the list. I have inspiring words posted all over my house. Daily I choose, at random, a card with a quote on it to affix to my bathroom mirror. My home office has my vision board, inspirational sayings and quotes I’ve scribbled out posted on the walls and my bulletin board.
This is the one that resonated with me today that I emailed on:
“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 are we 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 are 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.” Marianne Williamson
These beautifully phrased words have been meaningful to me these past few years. I know what it’s like to attempt to shrink and play small. In fact, at times I’ve tried to be invisible. As I’ve discovered who I am, and allowed my light to shine, I’ve realized there is no fear as great as fearing who I really am and what I can do. And no risk greater than embracing all of my gifts, abilities and quirks, and offering out of a whole and full heart to the world. My life, well lived, liberated from those fears, is one of the greatest gifts I can offer.