Friday-Shine

Another quote because I like to be reminded of this and he says it so well.

"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 enlightening about shrinking so that others won't feel small around you. We are born to make manifest the glory of God within us. That is not just some of us, it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine we unconsiously give other people permission to do the same. And as we are liberated from our own fears, our presence automatically liberates others. " - Nelson Mandela.

Be the light you were born to be. It's not selfish. We all have something about us that is needed in the world and if we don't fully become ourselves, if we try to be what we believe someone else wants us to be, what we believe we "should" be, the gift that is us is lost, never given. Be you.

I was joking with someone last weekend about how we "control" the spontaneity and creativity and openness in children so thoroughly, to force them into a societal mold (some of which is necessary to function in a society), that we then have to spend our whole adult lives trying to get back to it.