Don’t be Afraid to Dream Big
A story about my inspiration to live this one life being the best I can be
“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, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s 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 consciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates other?”
This quote has been famously misattributed to the great Nelson Mandela and has been cited as part of this inauguration speech in South Africa from 1994. In fact, as far as I can tell, this quote comes from a spiritual best-selling book published in 1989 by Marianne Williamson called Return to Love. By all accounts, Marianne Williamson does not mind the attribution too much, and Nelson Mandela was such an inspirational, thoughtful, and powerful leader who focused on the power of reconciliation, so no-one really questions whether he said it or not.
The source of the quote is not what interests me; the content does. Regardless on your spiritual perspective, this quote should be deeply meaningful for everyone searching for self-awareness and meaning in their lives.
In a recent discussion with a friend about blocks to personal growth and development, I was inspired to turn to Google to search for this quote. As I read the words aloud to my friend, they stuck a deep and resonant chord within me. And as I read the words aloud, I struggled as my throat closed around the words and tears started to fill my eyes. I have heard these words before, I have thought of them before, but yesterday was the day that their meaning filled my soul.
I invite you to read the quote again. Read the words slowly, let them sink it and reflect on their meaning in your life.
Why do I think this quote is important?
My personal interpretation of the quote is that we need to have the courage to show up in every aspect of our lives in our own powerful, glorious, positive, and unique way, and in that way, we can inspire others to step into the full potential of their lives.
Our willingness to show the world who we are will encourage others to find their voices and their path to true happiness.
Acknowledging your power is scary
At least it is for me. We are all powerful if we let ourselves be. We can all manifest this power in every situation.
For me this power means that we are not victims, we are victors. I am not diminishing the status of people who have been victims of violence or those types of circumstances, I am saying that the power over how we respond to any circumstance is in our hands, our heads, and our voices. How we choose to show up every day despite what is happening around us speaks to our power. This moves you from a passive recipient of circumstances to an active participant. This is how we manifest our power in the small moments of our everyday lives.
We have the power to choose how we respond.
It may take reflection, meditation, therapy, counselling, journaling, or spending time speaking to a trusted friend to be able to deal with our circumstances. In my view, these are all powerful steps in taking control and deciding how you will approach your life.
So, will you be a victim, or will you thrive because of your circumstances, not in spite of them?
How we frame up our circumstances in thought and words is important.
The words we use will either enable or disable us. We’ve probably all thought things of ourselves from time to time and used phrases and words that we would never use when talking about a trusted friend. If you are to wholeheartedly embrace this one life we have, we need to start treating ourselves with the same kindness we offer those who are nearest and dearest to us.
Your power resides in how you process your circumstances. And yes, some wallowing is certainly expected and allowed, but if you act like a hippopotamus and remain stuck in your wallowing, you are giving your power away.
Acknowledging my power is scary because I have to do something with it. I have to get up, get going, make a plan and do something. These actions we take are not usually going to be earth-shattering, world changing actions; some days it could be just getting out bed to face the day, but these actions can change your world.
Take back your power
Being different and standing out is scary
Again, maybe I am just talking about an audience of one here … being me, but being standing out can be scary.
In a world where
· Being “normal” is celebrated,
· Where things like beauty are defined by a handful of people
· Where success means a high-powered job with an eye-watering salary, a huge house, and a flashy car, or
· Being “loved” by millions of people in the social media world who don’t even know you is deemed worthy,
it feels like there are infinite opportunities to be judged and found wanting in this world.
Being different and truly being you can be scary. It can feel like you are risking so much by showing how different and unique you are.
Here’s a secret I came to late in life: everyone is different. No two people are the same. Our history defines each of us. We are where we are today because of the enormous quantity of decisions we have taken along our own journeys to get where we are today. No-one has had the exact same experiences that you have had to this point, and we all react differently to these experiences.
I know that is true from watching my twins grow up. They were born on the same day, in the same place to the same parents. They have spent their two and half years living the same experiences, and they are vastly different little people. They have their own triggers, they like some of the same things but often not at the same time, apart from ice-cream, they both like ice-cream at any time of the day or night.
If no-one has lived your exact life, how can they judge you? Or rather why should it matter that they do?
The people in your life who love and respect you will help you. Those who don’t know you, love you and respect you — their opinions should not matter as much as we let them. Hurtful judgements will always hurt, but if you are able to step back from your emotions (once your tears have dried), assess how truthful these words are, take on board what is true and helpful (regardless of the source), and discard the rest, then you will grow.
Easier said than done.
But if you do this enough times, you will find your own path to dealing with the empty judgements of those who don’t know you.
Let your light shine to ignite the lights of others
Like Mission Impossible, your challenge should you choose to accept it, is to let your light shine, not just for you but to inspire others to do the same. Imagine a world where everyone let their light shine brightly as a beacon of hope. Imagine how much light we would have then. Imagine a world where good, kind, real, courageous, and true are the real yardsticks by which we measure ourselves and others.
An invitation to your life
By letting our own light shine, we show others the way. We do not have to say anything to them directly. Owning your power, owning your uniqueness, bringing positivity into the world will light a fire that nothing can extinguish.
Unlike Mission Impossible, I believe that that this is possible if enough people take up the challenge laid down by Marianne Williamson so many years ago.
Don’t be ashamed of shining your own light. You are not being boastful. You are showing to the world how proud you are of yourself. Your incredible courage will inspire everyone you encounter every day. You can change your world, one day at a time, one conversation at a time, one person at a time.
Not everyone has the courage to live in their light.
Will you be brave enough?
