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.
Marianne Williamson
I heard this prose the first time while watching a movie.
I break movies up into four categories.
- Good ones that I want to sit down and watch. Single focus. When I have the time.
- Ones that I know are “OK” because I have seen them before. These are great to watch while doing something else (like email) because I know what these movies are about and they do not require my dedicated attention.
- Ones that I know to be terrible (or at least not to my liking)
- Ones which “I have no idea what these are about” but what the heck. They are free on Netflix.
These (#4’s) are like sticking your hand into a large box of valentine days candy. There are some good ones but there are a ton of gross ones that you want to spit out once you take that first bite. You can spit these movies out too after a few minutes and just bite into another one. Both leave a bad taste in your mouth cleansed only by finding one that tastes better.
I was in a mood of “what the heck” (#4) and grabbed a movie at random. It turned out to be a really good one. I had never heard of it before but it was really inspirational. I find that I tend to enjoy movies when I have no expectations. When people tell me something’s great I set my expectations too high and then movie generally does not live up to them.
I will spare you a rundown of every plot point but I will say that the quote stated above was articulated by a young inner-city student, at a very dramatic turning point in the movie. I immediately paused the movie so I could play it back several times. Wow. The quote really rang true. It just fit.
It then triggered a landslide in my mind of other risk quotes like “Don’t be afraid to fail because only through failure do you learn to succeed” or “No risk, no reward.” How about the unforgettable “The greater the risk, the greater the reward” quote? Up ‘til now that was my personal favorite.
However inspirational or insightful these other quotes were they did not “fit” me as well as Marianne Williamson’s.
I “felt” this quote.
It bounced around inside my head from the emotional side to the rationale side. Back and forth. It actually seemed to start a chain reaction; it gained momentum, its own force.
And then more of her prose came from the student: “When we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same”
I think it also rang true because I feel it succinctly defined my personal “Manifest Destiny”. My drive. This quote put words to my personal quest; it was now more verbally tangible. I have a chance now to better communicate the path I am on, to describe where I’d like to go in life and share this with others.
I am not suggesting I have mastered this whole “Manifest Destiny” thing but I have long been a student of this type of incantation.
I am always trying to figure myself out so I can continue to grow both personally and professionally. Sometimes I just don’t know how to verbalize the plans I have for myself or others. This quote is a game changer. It put it all together for me. It gave words to my hopes and wishes.
I have been unintentionally torturing people around me as I try to get them to follow my lead in this area. I have been asking them to hit the invisible targets that exist only my head using undefined projectiles. While they are all incredibly talented, dedicated and well intentioned I know I frustrate many of them at times. Many of them struggle to see the invisible hoops I am trying to get them to jump through.
I flail my arms, voice and emails in many cases to no avail because the words to define it escaped me.
It’s not about jumping when I say jump. It’s not about agreeing with me to end the conversation quicker. It’s about digging deep and pulling out and locating the light that exists inside them. I want to help people shine. I want to be swimming in their effervescence.
Together we can be twice as bright. When aura meets aura it’s powerful.
I go out of my way to let everyone know when they are shinning; or in some cases not shinning.
People that try to blow out my flame or anyone else’s don’t last long.
I love to see the reactions on people’s faces when they see that I see their gifts being liberated. I do my best to encourage things in them that many of them did not know how to un-lock. Gifts that they, in many cases, do not see themselves or even know they had.
To be in anyway a part in someone growing is, I feel, ones of life’s noblest accomplishments.
I challenge people, not as a desire to dominate, but as to encourage them to stand up. Not be afraid. Actualize their luminescence.
To make a fire stronger, as any wood-burner knows, you have to blow on it.
I hope now that this better explains my intentions.
It’s probably too much to ask for absolution but hopefully enough to get me an early parole.
Eddie
