25 Feb 2011

Powerful Beyond Measure

I'm a reader. I'll read anything and everything, from highbrow literature to gossip mags. Why? Because every now and then you come across something that expresses something you've always know deep down but never really realised you knew. Someone else manages to put into words what you've always dimly known but never explicitly understood and suddenly your eyes are opened to what you'd secretly known all along. That happened to me today when I read this poem by Marianne Williamson:

Our Greatest Fear —Marianne Williamson

it is our light not our darkness that most frightens us


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 does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other
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 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.

—Marianne Williamson
This is one of those poems that will inevitably have different, very personal meanings to each different person who reads it. For me, it had a lot to say about anorexia. By starving myself, by focusing on food and weight instead of on life, realtionships, joy and my inner self, I was preventing myself from reaching my true potential. I'm sure that had a lot to do with how afraid I was of my true potential: my potential to be happy, my potential to be successful, my potential to live a joyous and full life. The line that I like best is 'We are born to make manifest the glory of God within us'. Thinking about it like that inspires me to get better and live the fullest, richest, healthiest life I can.

2 comments:

  1. This is beautifully written :)
    And such a wonderful and appropriate poem.
    You being afraid of your true potential- so true. I feel like we use ED as an excuse to keep ourselves from what we have the potential to be! We're scared of failing and sometimes even succeeding, so we purposefully, (yet subconsciously) hold ourselves back.
    Anyway, you're doing splendid!l :) Keep up the wonderful attitude!
    <3 Haley

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  2. I love that quote! I use it almost daily, and as a motivation to start my blog. I used to think 'who am I to have a blog?' but who am I not to be!!! Thanks for reminding me of these words :)

    Hay

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