Thursday, April 14, 2011

the deepest fear

[My] deepest fear is not that [I am] inadequate.
[My] deepest fear is that [I am] powerful beyond measure. 
It is [my] light, not [my] darkness, that frightens [me] most.
[I] ask [myself], “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?”
Actually, who [am I] not to be?  [I am] a child of God.
[My] playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won’t feel insecure around [me].  
[I was] born to make manifest the glory of God that is within [me].
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in all of us[; it's in me].
And when [I] let [my] own light shine,
[I] unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As [I am] liberated from [my] own fear, [my] presence automatically liberates others.
–Nelson Mandela, 1994 Inaugeral Speech

i changed the pronouns to 
 make this more personal.

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