How Our Shadow Makes Us Fear Our Potential
In today’s session we contemplate the quote, ‘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.’ From Marianne Williamson, an American author, speaker, and politician. This track is taken from my course, ‘Daily Contemplations For Living An Examined Life’, available now via my profile.
Transcript
Hello and welcome to this session.
I invite you to take a seat or lay down and get yourself comfortable.
You can close down the eyes if you wish and take a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
And just gently begin to open your mind to today's quote.
To contemplate the words with a free and open and supple mind.
To welcome in possibility and expansion and growth.
And to allow yourself for the next few minutes to just sit and be with whatever arises.
In a moment I'm going to share with you a quote to contemplate and then we'll just sit in silence for a minute and let it percolate.
And then we'll talk about the quote and see where the discussion leads us.
Today's quote comes from Miriam Williamson,
An American author,
Speaker and politician.
In it goes,
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?
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 is not just in some of us,
It is in everyone.
It is 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.
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?
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 are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us,
It is 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.
So this quote points towards the shadow.
And it points towards the shadow from an interesting perspective.
A lot of the time we fear that we're inadequate,
As the quote begins.
But what if we are actually powerful beyond measure?
What if there is an unlimited potential inside of us?
You know,
The quote talks of God,
But we can remove the religiosity from this and just talk about the unbound potential of life,
Of a human,
Of the spirit,
Of whatever aspect that gives us energy,
Of every example of someone reaching great heights in their own world.
We look to the world and we see all of these people performing at such high levels,
That when we turn that lens on us,
We compare ourselves to that,
And we see failure.
And we know in us,
Were we to choose,
Were we to take a step to let go of that fear,
We could be more than who we are.
Not necessarily attain what we see externally,
Because we are not those people,
We didn't have their circumstances,
Nor their genetics,
Nor their upbringing,
Nor their opportunities.
But we see the potential in ourselves that we're not quite reaching.
And we wonder why,
Why aren't I taking this one opportunity that I have,
This one life,
To thrive,
To push,
To grow,
To try and be more than what I am.
And we shrink back,
Because it's easy to be small,
It's easy to hide,
It's easy to be a blade of grass,
Rather than a flower driving high towards the sun,
Because that flower sticks out,
And whilst it's beautiful,
It's on its own,
Or at least it feels like it.
But as the quote says,
Your playing small does not serve the world.
Inside everyone is something that can help others,
Wisdom,
Guidance,
Experience,
A different outlook.
And if you are to play small and not share,
And just sort of hold that to yourself,
What does that do for the world?
I know from my experience,
Writing,
Teaching,
Coaching,
Counselling,
Expressing myself,
That my words have power,
My reframing ability of my experiences helps others,
Because despite them not living my life,
They can gleam some sort of wisdom that they can apply to it.
By me being brave enough to express my truth,
To follow my passions,
To live by my values and pursue my dreams,
I'm able to help others to do the same.
But it is scary,
Because I am putting myself out there.
And indeed,
Anytime anyone tries to do something,
They're putting themselves out there.
If you try to be great,
If you try to do something,
To achieve something,
You risk failure.
And not only failure of not getting the thing or not doing it,
But also the judgment that you think may or will arise.
Look at him,
He tried,
But failed.
Or look at her,
She thought she could,
But she didn't.
And then you fall back,
And you hide,
And you sit in that small space.
But what if,
What if you let your light shine?
What would that do,
Do for yourself and do for the world?
One of my goals as a parent is to live a life that my children want to emulate,
Not to do what I've done,
But to live with the passion and the bravery and the servitude and the wisdom and the joy that I'm trying to bring to my life,
To be able to process and navigate the spaces with a attitude that leans towards the positive,
That leans towards our inner power,
That shines light on potential,
That is optimistic.
Can I do that for them?
Can I embody that strength,
That space,
That power?
Well,
The more I do,
The more I see them copying me.
And the more I shrink,
The more I see them copying that shrinkingness,
And I see it reflected back.
And,
You know,
Having children is a microcosm of this feeling,
But just go out into the world and frown,
And see the frowns you'll get back,
And then go out and smile,
And just bask in the resonance that you receive.
And that's just a simple smile.
What if you were to bring change to the world,
To share your light with the world?
If you were able to be liberated from your own fear,
Perhaps that presence would be able to help liberate others.
When you see someone acting in a certain way,
It gives you permission to do the same.
Can you be that permission giver?
Can you take steps towards something beyond yourself,
Something that seems a little bit out of reach?
Can you step with faith and hope and possibility?
Now,
If we add into this quote the addition of God,
The author of the quote is Christian,
But I think you could apply the resonance or the idea of this quote to any version of spirituality or religion that invokes an external God,
Or even a non-dual God.
It suggests you are a child of God,
And that we're born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
But that very same such language can be slightly tweaked and expressed through most practices.
And if you truly believe,
Maybe you don't,
But if you truly believe you are God manifest,
Or the child of God,
Or God's creation,
Then you are primed.
It's in your spiritual DNA.
It's your duty to embody that.
If you are religious,
If you do have a spiritual connection to a deity,
Invoke that through you and act.
And if you don't,
If you don't have any of that,
Then just invoke the fact that you exist.
Your very existence is a miracle based on purely atheistic and secular terms.
None of us should be here.
The chances are minuscule.
So why waste that opportunity?
Live that chance to its fullest.
Embody God within.
Be and do.
So let's consider.
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?
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 are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us,
It is 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.
So,
Well done.
This brings us to the end of the session.
At the bottom of your screen,
You'll see the option to view the classroom or to ask a question.
Before moving on,
I invite you to take a moment to click through and share your insights.
To read the answers from other students and to hear my replies.
Remember to start your responses with Mary Ann Williamson or the quote,
Powerful beyond measure,
So that we all know which one you're referring to.
This is an opportunity for deep learning,
Further introspection and insight.
So please don't miss out.
I look forward to seeing you in the next session.
Thank you.
This track was taken from my course,
Daily Contemplations for Living an Examined Life.
It's out now on Insight Timer and available via my profile.
I invite you to join in.
