Letting Your Light Shine

One of my favorite inspirational quotes is from Nelson Mandela. It's not in Your Daily Inspiration because of the sheer length of it, so I can't resist the chance to put it here.

I believe the quotation comes originally from Maryanne Williamson, and Nelson Mandela used it in the speech he made at his inauguration as the first black president of South Africa in 1994.

He said: "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 frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' 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 people won't feel insecure around you. 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 when 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."

His words have the power to stir the heart – but for many people, they represent a serious, uncomfortable challenge. It's not that they don't want to let their light shine. The problem is, so many people don't believe they have one. They've got so used to criticism, self-doubt, negative experiences and poverty of expectation that the idea they might be supposed to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and famous, instead of being a delightful affirmation of everything they want to be, disturbs them deeply.

It doesn't bring them joy – they find it threatening.

Well, don't just take my word that you have the right, the power, the duty and responsibility to be those things.

Listen to the man who spent 27 years in prison because he wouldn't give up on the things that he believed in, and then came out to be not only his country's first black president but a man revered and loved throughout the world.

If Nelson Mandela believes in you so strongly, why don't you?

If you need some help to be persuaded that you can be gorgeous (naturally gorgeous!), check out Reveal Your Inner Beauty. If you don't believe you're brilliant, you can improve your self-esteem. If you don't believe you're talented, you can improve your self-belief. If you believe you lack assertiveness, try out Project Your Real, Dynamic Self.

If you believe the things you want most are beyond your grasp, check out Supreme-Success.com, or else Achieve Your Wildest Dreams - and for your free book of inspirational quotations for every day of the year, just visit Your Daily Inspiration (while it's downloading, you can get get a taste of what you will be reading at the Inspirational Quotations page).

Share Nelson Mandela's faith in you, and let your light shine!