Your Playing Small Does Not Serve the World

October 29th, 2010

Being all that we are capable of being involves stepping out of our comfort zone and rising to our greatness. It means confronting our fears head on. Most fears are nothing more than illusions that keep us small and limit our lives.

There have been so many times in my life when I did not feel that I could pull something off. When I was scared or felt alone. In any of those times when I stepped up with knees knocking and pushed through my fear I always came out the other side more confident and better able to handle the next challenge. (Click here to download my report on Overcoming the 8 Fears Holding You Back)

We all worry that we are not enough. We listen to the naysayers and we toss our dreams aside. As I thought about this I remembered reading something in the past that had resonated with me “Your playing small does not serve the world”. I thought it was from Nelson Mandela’s inauguration speech but as it turns out it was a quote from the brilliant and insightful author Marianne Williamson in her book, A Return to Love, it reads…

“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 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 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 are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Most of us don’t want to embrace our gifts because we don’t want to accept the responsibility that those gifts present. Vow to never let that happen to you. Let you light shine and brighten the world. Step out and find your potential even if your knees are knocking.

*Disclosure Policy* I purchased my own copy of this book and I have not been paid or otherwise compensated for mentioning the book.  If you decide to purchase the book from Amazon using the above links I will receive a small commission.