Realizing Your Potential

Realizing Your Potential and Shine

by Lisa Guyman

“I Have a Dream . . .”

What if Martin Luther King had said “I have a dream” and then followed his opening line with: ‘well, but, I don’t know if I can do it; it’s going to be hard, etc.’  He certainly wouldn’t have inspired us and wouldn’t have gotten very far.  So, how often do we diminish ourselves?  How often do we get inspired and then let a tide of negative thoughts and fears wash our dream away?  How often do we get caught up by daily events and details and forget the big picture and thereby diminish our power, our energy, our enjoyment of life?

Most of us have a vision for our lives, but then back down from them because we get weighed down by the ‘how to’ and thereby lose our inspiration.  However, at the core of it, I don’t believe it’s a fear of failure as much as a fear of success and how our new success, or new way of ‘being in the world’ would make our lives change.  This quote from Nelson Mandela in an inaugural speech says it all:

“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 doesn’t 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 is 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.”

To realize our potential means to spiritually awaken, to let our light shine, to ultimately become enlightened.  It means to become better people, become wiser, kinder, more compassionate and lighthearted! It means to share our gifts, express our inspiration and be of service in small and great ways.

Keep Shining, Keep Dreaming, Keep Smiling.

Quote of the Month:

“The inferior teacher tells you that something is wrong with you and offers to fix it. The superior teacher tells you that something is right with you and helps you bring it forth.” — Alan Cohen