In the interest of giving credit where credit is due, the following passage is from the book "A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles" by Marianne Williamson.




'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'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.'

Wow. This is so surreal to me.

When I was 18, I began dating a man who introduced me to ACIM.

I started reading it, and one day I came across a similar quote from the course he had sent to a female friend who was struggling with her weight----he told me she was over 300lbs. That floored me, and I felt so ..... removed from that sort of thing. I felt sad for her, I felt pity. How weird that I have hit 300 and I still haven't learned to emotionally accept the courses view???

I feel as if I am in a circular treadmill LOL.

Thank you for posting that.

Deb - The first part of this was actually the quote that I put in my original bio as my favorite (I had erroneously attributed it to Nelson Mandela where I first heard it and I had been meaning to fix the source for some time).

It is so true. I fear that shining will make other people feel small. The crazy thing is that when I meet someone who shines that I am so glad to be around them because I love to see other people doing their best. Why wouldn't I want the same for myself? This will definitely take some more work.

What a powerful quote. It's amazing how what you need to read or hear just hits you when you need it. Thanks so much for posting that!