“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 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.”
The above speech by Nelson Mandela was orignally written by Marianne Williamson who is the author of other similar material.”
The above speech by Nelson Mandela indicates a man who over nearly 40 years in prison, thought deeply, read much and tried his best to understand human nature. In the course of that journey he developed a firm belief in God and by doing so, learned love for man followed by sensitivity, compassion and an attempt at understanding all as well as the roles they played in his life.
If we actually look at some of the things he talks about. For instance he clearly says, our deepest fears is that we are too powerful and not nearly as inadequate as we profess. For many of us this is a contradiction, simply because for most of us our greatest fear is that we are inadequate, helpless and of no consequence in the grand scheme of life. That is our negativity which is self-destructive. He goes on to talk about the light. The light he refers to comes from the soul within, that all of us have. He specifically refers to love and hope leading us forward towards ever continuing growth and understanding of ourselves and accordingly, others around us. For without hope, life is darkness. Darkness is fear and bigotry, the road to self-destruction and denial of all our human virtues. If severe enough, it leads to our soul going to sleep for self protection.
Love it, as always :-)
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