This comes as a follow up to, and as a great example of, my last post, "I May Not Be Perfect, But...."
I ran across this quote today and couldn't resist calling it out. I can't stand it when I come across pseudo-inspiration like this. I don't understand why society, especially women, think they have to open up with a disclaimer before saying something nice about themselves. It only makes whatever self-respecting and self-liking statement that manages to surface sound weak, small, and frankly, pathetic.
What's up with the long-winded disqualifying prelude before your aria? If you're going to toot your own horn, just toot it.
I know many of you suffer from what our parents, teachers and other authority figures told you when you were young, that it's not proper to shine your own light, that modesty is a sign of good little boys and girls. I know all about this, because I was programmed that way too, until I woke up one day and said fuck it – I'm going to be me, and I'm going to let me shine.
A good whopping dose of self-regard is never boastful. It's not proud or vain. It's a sense of being so genuinely full of your own worth that you simply expand your brilliance – your 'you-ness', your 'you-niqueness' – out to the world and those around you. It's a beautiful thing to behold and people instantly feel attracted to, and are inspired by, someone like that. Why not make that person you?
So don't ever worry about sounding arrogant – that only applies to people who fabricate a puffed-up image of themselves in order to cloak their lack of self-worth and self-acceptance. The laughable thing about it is that although they think they're fooling others, others can see straight through their thin, transparent shell.
Now back to the above quote. My suggestion is this: let's cut the crap and just be brilliant already. Like the exercise on my last post, let's omit all the extra words that apologize for your limitations and simply leave in what truly matters: "I'm good at being me. I'm proud of who I am today." That's it. That's honoring. That's sexy. That's empowering.
No more but!
"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 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 others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." ~ Marianne Williamson
[Image credit: bestimagequotes.com]
