Shining bright

Last night, Veronica Canning gave a talk entitled 'Thrive not Survive', and in it she talked about figuring out your big vision: doing something that you love and feel passionate about, something that's a little bit frightening in its audacity.

Anyhoo, she mentioned a poem by Marianne Williamson that's often misattributed to Mandela (he quoted it in his landmark inaugural speech). I had only just come across it a week or so ago, so here it is, for your thought-provoking pleasure:

Our Deepest Fear
By Marianne Williamson

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's 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're liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

Have a lovely weekend, folks :-)