{"id":1214,"date":"2013-04-12T05:38:16","date_gmt":"2013-04-12T05:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/areasontosmile\/?p=1214"},"modified":"2013-04-13T08:16:39","modified_gmt":"2013-04-13T08:16:39","slug":"qa-how-to-give-yourself-permission-to-shine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/2013\/04\/qa-how-to-give-yourself-permission-to-shine.html","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: How to give yourself permission to shine"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Nothing to fear, but fear itself.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOur 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.\u201d
\n—-from A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson.<\/p>\n

After posting this quote recently on my Facebook fan page<\/a>, someone responded:
\n\u201cLove this post and will have to share it. But where do people start to take the first step in acknowledging their highest potential. So many have been taught to not be boastful or not show off or you are no better than the next person. How do you pull out of that preventative thinking and move into a mindset of greatness?\u201d<\/p>\n

An excellent question!\u00a0 In many ways, the answer is the quote itself.\u00a0 But I would add to it that in my experience, it is not the fear of eclipsing others that scares us, but the fear of failure.\u00a0 <\/em>Because if we truly give something our all, and fall short, then what?\u00a0 Heaven forbid people think of us as a FAILURE, right?\u00a0 So, instead we take the safe road.\u00a0 The low road, the road plenty travelled.<\/p>\n

Except there is only one type of failure, and that IS not trying.\u00a0 Think about something you\u2019ve wanted to do, a \u2018someday, maybe\u2019 goal; as in \u2018someday I\u2019d like to go to school,\u2019 or \u2018maybe I\u2019d like to become an actress.\u2019\u00a0 But immediately that little voice kicks in (the same little voice that just said \u201cwhat little voice?\u201d) and gives you all the reasons you can\u2019t do it.\u00a0 You aren\u2019t smart enough, or pretty enough, or talented enough.\u00a0 And so you convince yourself not to even try.\u00a0 Think about that: You convince yourself not to try, rather than fail to get what you want, but that decision *keeps you from getting what you want!* Being afraid that you might not be able to go to school, keeps you out of school.\u00a0 Being afraid you can\u2019t act, keeps you from acting.\u00a0 Believing that girl would never go out with you, keeps you from dating that girl.<\/p>\n

Does that make sense?<\/p>\n

There is nothing to be afraid of, because the thing you fear is upon you right now<\/em>.\u00a0 You already know what it\u2019s like to not have it, because you are living it.\u00a0 So what else is there to fear? \u00a0If you try and fall short, you\u2019ll be right back where you are right now, no problem.\u00a0 And then you get up and keep trying until you make it.\u00a0 Like Bodhidharma said: To fall 7 times is to rise 8 times\u2026life begins today.<\/p>\n

It may take time, it WILL take time.\u00a0 Be patient with yourself, it took your entire life to get to where you are right now, and things won\u2019t change every night.\u00a0 As long as you do something<\/em> every single day to get you closer to your goal, success is inevitable.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to be better than anyone else, you only have to be better than yesterday.<\/p>\n

Oh, and one last thing: Some people will criticize, or laugh, or talk bad about you.\u00a0 Haters hate, it\u2019s what they do!\u00a0 But deep down inside, when they see you shine, when they see you truly going after what you want, do you know what they\u2019ll really<\/em> be thinking?<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll wish they had the courage to do what you are doing, instead of being too scared to go after it.\u00a0 So let your haters be your motivators!<\/p>\n

What do you think? Feel free to comment down below!<\/p>\n

You are great, and I love you!
\nAnd if you love me back, click ‘share’ up at the top!<\/p>\n

B. Dave Walters Writer, Life Coach, and Talk Radio Host<\/p>\n

Find out more about me:\u00a0http:\/\/about.me\/BDaveWalters<\/a><\/p>\n

Ask me anything:\u00a0http:\/\/formspring.me\/BDaveWalters<\/a><\/p>\n

Pages I support:
\nJesus and Buddha\u00a0<\/a>— Interfaith dialog<\/p>\n

Gnostic Theism<\/a>\u00a0— Religion and Spirituality for the 21st Century (Join the Movement!)<\/p>\n

Love One Another<\/a>\u00a0— A group for the coolest Spiritual people on the Internet!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\u00a0\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cOur 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.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":450,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,47,55,80,39,86,116,35,15,93,114,29,81,38,40,31,46,88,28,112,41,43,48,45,30,17,78],"tags":[3,34,13,12,11,109,36,6,14,22,23,26,25,51,24,42,56,7,113],"class_list":["post-1214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-change-2","category-communication","category-emotions-2","category-family","category-fear","category-fitness","category-friends","category-getting-over-it","category-god","category-gratitude","category-guilt","category-happiness","category-healing","category-hope-inspiration","category-law-of-attraction-2","category-love-2","category-love-yourself","category-mind","category-peace","category-pessimism","category-positive-thinking","category-relationships-2","category-spirituality","category-tainted-love","category-the-past","category-universal-law","category-worry","tag-b-dave-walters","tag-breakthroughs","tag-change","tag-emotions","tag-gnostic-theism","tag-god","tag-hope","tag-law-of-attraction","tag-life-coach","tag-los-angeles","tag-love","tag-peacelovemoney-com","tag-psychology","tag-rejection","tag-relationships","tag-self-talk","tag-stress","tag-the-secret","tag-universal-law"],"yoast_head":"\nQ&A: How to give yourself permission to shine - A Reason to Smile<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/2013\/04\/qa-how-to-give-yourself-permission-to-shine.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Q&A: How to give yourself permission to shine - A Reason to Smile\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cOur deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. 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