Who Am I to Hide in a Fat Suit?

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.
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.

I took Adrienne to see Akeelah and the Bee last week. (Great movie by the way, if you like slightly-cheesy feel-good movies, which I do.) This quote was in it more than once. I found it odd that they didn't attribute it. Then I found out that a lot of people mis-attribute it to a Nelson Mandela speech, when really it was written by Marianne Williamson. I'm thinking the Starbucks people, who produced the movie, were hoping for a little miscommunication. Anyway. Who wrote it doesn't take away anything from its power. I struck a chord with me.

So, I wrote it in my journal. And I'll be reading it outloud every morning for a while. Because I'm goofy like that!