451 - Our Greatest Fear

I spoke about plagiarism recently in a post.

Many years ago, an expert from the following poem was used in a speech by Nelson Mandela.

The speech writer failed to give credit to the author, meaning he had committed plagiarism.

Needless to say, this came to the attention of the author, Marianne Williamson, who was gracious enough not to any demands regarding the incident.

This is a powerful message that remains one of my favorites.

I hope this gives you a lift today.

Marianne Williamson wrote, Our Greatest Fear:

What holds us back in our lives is fear…. and sometimes when you take a very close look you find out that your fears aren’t exactly what you thought they were.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It's our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous… but 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 were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us. it's in all of us.

And, as we let our own light shine, we subconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. So it’s Holy work to move past your own fear….

It doesn't just help you…. it helps the world.