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 is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not 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 others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others
-Marianne Willliamson
This quote really touched me recently. It had been wrongly attributed to Nelson Mandela and his 1994 inaugural address, but nonetheless was powerful to me. It holds true, I think, to most people. It is important to realize that most of the obstacles and boundaries in your way are those of your (unintentional) creating. We are capable of AMAZING things. Not all that we can imagine maybe, but so much more than we give ourselves credit for. It is you though, that has to make the first step toward those amazing things. You cannot just THINK yourself into change, into that power that God has given you. You must act on it. Too often we allow our busy lives, our focus on other things, to be the reason we do nothing. Make no mistake; All of that is just an excuse. You cannot let fear rule your life. You must not. You must be courageous. You must stand tall and go boldly forward. Succeed or fail, but do so GLORIOUSLY and on your OWN MERIT. Do something that no matter the outcome, you can look back at that moment in your life and smile to yourself and say "At least I gave it EVERYTHING I HAD." There is no shame in that.