Radiate the Awesomeness Within You

"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, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small does not 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. 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're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." -Marianne Williamson

I was struck by the mesmerising words of this uncannily true quote. I'd never looked at things that way before. Sure, I know the feeling of awkwardness you get sometimes when sharing your achievements; and also the niggling thought that you don't deserve said achievements. But the fact that we fear the light? It's almost like an epiphany for me.

The truth is, we are afraid to shine. We're afraid to put ourselves out there, to risk rejection and failure, to let ourselves reach our full potential, to do what we love best...all because we're afraid of being judged. Not just by others, but by ourselves. The human mind can be a powerful tool sometimes, especially when it acts against the person whose body it occupies. It can convince you of some daunting "facts" that make you feel insecure, unloved, unworthy and completely and utterly useless.

I mean, let's think about it: Who benefits by us dimming the lights of our inner sparks? (Okay, that sounded too New-Age-meets-therapy-round so let's go with:) Who benefits when we put ourselves down and remain in our positions, stagnant in the rushing current that is life? How does that help anyone in this world? How does that help us?

It doesn't. You know why? Because shutting out the things you like to do the most, hiding yourself from risks and avoiding trying out what you could potentially be a phenomenal success at just to avoid failure are all methods of depriving our beautiful, colourful, diverse earth from yet another person that could do wonders for it.

We all can be awesome. We just have to let ourselves.