★Our Deepest Fear

“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.”

Apparently this speech was given by Nelson Mandela and was originally written by Marianne Williamson.

˚ a state of Self Care Joy  

Posted on 04/02/2009. Last edited on 01/02/2013.

In response to Lee Nutter’s post:
Wonderful, thanks for sharing that!

That’s great “We are all meant to shine, as children do”

and so true that “As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” —-So true.

_{The fear of humiliation appears to be one of the most powerful motivators in individual and collective human behavior Donald Klein}

Hi Lee, I love this piece. Thanks for posting it here a bmindful. Pat

This quote has been incorrectly attributed to
Nelson Mandela in his inaugural speech of 1994.
He never spoke these words in his speeches that year.
You can read Nelson’s actual inaugural speeches at these links:
http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/mandela/1994/inaugct.html http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/mandela/1994/inaugpta.html

The famous passage from her book is often erroneously attributed to the inaugural address of Nelson Mandela. About the misattribution Williamson said, “Several years ago, this paragraph from A Return to Love began popping up everywhere, attributed to Nelson Mandela’s 1994 inaugural address. As honored as I would be had President Mandela quoted my words, indeed he did not. I have no idea where that story came from, but I am gratified that the paragraph has come to mean so much to so many people.”

I AGREE WITH THE PREVIOUS COMMENTS,AND OF COURSE I LOVE M.W.I USE TO ATTEND HER CHURCH YEARS AGO IN MICHIGAN.I BELIEVE THERE ARE A FEW DIFFERENT INGREDIENTS REQUIRED TO STAY ON SOME SORT OF PATH TO GET BEYOND THIS FEAR OF ENLIGHTMENT.IT VARIES PERHAPS FROM ONE PERSON TO ANOTHER.TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE,IN MY EXPERIENCE IT REQUIRES DESIRE, TENACITY,GRACE,AND THE AWARENESS THAT OUR UNCONSCIOUS IS A LITTLE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH ME DOING THINGS THAT ARE NOT ON IT,S AGENDA.AND WHERE DOES THE UNCONSCIOUS FORMULATE IT,S BELIEFS,USUALLY FROM NEGATIVE MESSAGES ACCUMULATED EVEN PRIOR TO BIRTH,UNTILL WHENEVER WE START TO WAKE UP,20 30 40 YEARS ALOT OF DOUBT AND FALSE BELIEFS CAN POTENTIALLY OCCUR.THE GOOD NEWS THOSE MESSAGES THAT CREATED,NEGATIVE THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS ARE FALSE AND THEY ARE EVEN GETTING TIRED OF THERE NON-SENSE…JUST MY PERSPECTIVE.THAT,S WHY THE JOURNEY IS WHAT MATTERS AND THE DESTINATION IS PART AND PARCEL OF THE JOURNEY…NOW I KNOW SOME OF THAT MADE SENSE