just the way you are.
June 14, 2008
Inspiration can come from many places, and sometimes from where you least expect it.
I was watching a recorded episode of Battlestar Galactica last night (I’m a few episodes behind), and for those of you not familiar with the new series, there is a very spiritual undertone to the storyline.
There was a line that struck a note with me at the climax:
God loves you because you are perfect, just the way you are.
No matter what your faith, what your belief, the meaning for me is very clear – we are all great, and capable of greatness. This one simple statement reminded me of a chat I had with Crystal the other day, about faith in one’s self to do great things.
I shared a quote with her, that I carry with me everywhere:
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.
-Marianne Williamson
It also makes me think of a piece I ran across last year, that I’ve talked about before at Life Coaches Blog – What Successful People Believe.
Point number 5:
People already have all the resources they need.
That’s it, really. We are all Children of God, or Buddha, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or whatever you choose to believe.
I choose to believe that, in spite of my very real, human faults, I am great. We are all great. We only need to accept that, and there is nothing we can’t do.
I can and will… and I believe. (Thanks for that one, Wendi.)
You are perfect, just the way you are.
All of you.
PS – I’ve been off the running wagon for too long… but I’ve finally beaten this cold, so I’ll give a running report next weekend. I miss the miles… I wrote only 872 words this week, because writing for “the man” took up too much of my free time. And my friend has had a few nibbles in his search for alternative employment…
(I figured I’d better append this here, or Wendi would chase me!)
Yes I would because inch by inch or hook or crook that book is going to happen. I know it’s important to you and I’m holding you to it. That’s what friends do for each other.
Awesome post my friend and thank you for including me in it. We CAN and We WILL because We BELIEVE..
Wendi Kelly’s last blog post..CAN and WILL…and BELIEVE
Brett
Nice post, man.
I like the deep meaningful message, but also the funny references (Flying Sphaghtti Monster!) You provide a nice balance between reminding us about the important things in life, and also to keep from taking ourselves too seriously.
We’re all God’s Children. Followed by a link showing the correlation between Pirates and Global warming!
You gotta love it!
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@Wendi,
Thank you very much, and you are welcome. I couldn’t “can and will and believe” without you.
@Friar,
Thanks brother. Well, that’s an important thing, isn’t it – balance. Being happy is more than half of it…
Great post, Brett. One thing you touched on in there was resourcefulness vs. resources. That reminded me of this great video from Anthony Robbins, in which he talks about this very thing. I thought it was very profound and although I’m not much of a “self-help” kinda guy, I wanted to share it with you guys in the comments. You can see it here. We all have a bunch of amazing within us. It’s good to be reminded of that. Thanks, Brett!
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Brett,
The Billy Joel song popped into my head before I read past the title and now it won’t leave. Same message of acceptance, so hopefully this will not get me in trouble with the FSM. Holy spaghetti, that’s an odd site.
I like finding a new way to be reminded to go for broke all the time, and this is IT today. Simple and lovely. With Pastafarians thrown in so it doesn’t get too heavy. Yeah, that’s why I come here.
Great image, too.
Thanks as always!
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Tip of the Week: The One Piece of Advice I’d Give a New Blogger
@Michael,
Thank you – and thank you for sharing that video link, very good stuff there. I need to see more of Tony’s talks. Glad you stopped in to say hi today.
@Kelly,
I’m thinking very hard about how I’m going to take on tomorrow, and it will be great. Tomorrow had better watch out, there’s a new Viking in town…
Thanks for sharing this Brett.
The Williamson quote is great and I was particularly struck by the beginning, “it is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.”
I think sometimes we “play small” and don’t “let our light shine” because we don’t want to take on the responsibility and challenges which come with believing in ourselves.
If we believe we are not really talented, not really brilliant, not really fabulous, then we can comfort ourselves (on some level) that our mediocre lives are all we can ever hope to achieve. We can stay safe within our (for want of a better term) ‘god-given limitations’.
If we believe in our own power and light then we have to take risks and take action to make things happen, or face the reality that it was not a lack of talent but a lack of self-determination that kept us from our dreams.
I hope that makes sense – it’s kinda difficult to explain!
I also hope you won’t mind me linking to one of my posts about self-limiting beliefs which I wrote after realizing just how much I was limited by my perceptions of what was possible and what I was capable of.
I really liked the quote too about the fear of being great. I find it so true. Many times, we do not want to step up, choosing to believe instead the limiting stories that we play in our heads. If we can look beyond and overcome this fear, we can pretty much surprise ourselves in what we can really do!
Thanks for sharing,
Evelyn
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@Rebecca,
You are welcome, and thank you for your thoughts on this – it makes perfect sense, actually. Because, we so often do that – intentionally hijack ourselves and say, “well, I should be happy with what I have because I can’t do any better” when we really can. It seems often that it is in the best interests of the leaders at our companies to make us think we can’t do any better on our own – if we acknowledged the truth, many more of us would say “enough” and the truly talented would go out on their own.
(Which is sort of what has happened with me. I’ve said “enough”.
Thanks for linking to your post, too as it is a good one.
@Evelyn,
You are welcome, and thank you for your insights into this as well.
Both you and Rebecca have nailed it – we have to look beyond our fear, to really shine. We will surprise even ourselves when we do.
Brett, this article and especially the quote from Marianne Williamson which is one of my favorites was the clincher for what my guides have been telling me all week, “Quit playing small and insignificant. It isn’t you.” Rebecca and Evelyn’s comments just added to what you had said for me. Thanks to all.
Patricia – Spiritual Journey Of A Lightworker’s last blog post..Living Life To Its Fullest Means Feeling It All
@Kelly – I thought of Billy, too.
@Brett – Star Wars is very spiritual also. My favorite scene is at the end when Luke listens to Obie Wan and puts the tracking device (can’t remember what it is called) away.
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Happy Father’s Day!
Not sure if you Canadians celebrate the same day. Doesn’t matter. Hey, and Merry Christmas too! I think buddha’s b-day is in july. Not sure when. Don’t have another pagan holiday until August.
Ellen Wilson’s last blog post..Great Photo Tips From E
Oh, dear yes. Happy Father’s Day, Brett, to the best Dad online. (That way I can still let my own be The Best, ‘cuz he IS.
Until later,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Tip of the Week: The One Piece of Advice I’d Give a New Blogger
Lovely post, Brett! I’m reading this as I’m waking up with my morning (oops, now afternoon….heh) coffee and I’ll have to say, I enjoy waking up to a little inspiration. I forgot how much fun that is
I love that quote: “people already have all the resources they need”. It’s a great way to remember to keep up the hard work!
@Ellen – sure there’s no holiday until August, but pagans have more fun anyway
My next holiday comes at the end of June, though. I’m all excited about being able to celebrate, because this is my first summer away from my Christian Fundamentalist family <3
r.l.david02 – TKD Happiness’s last blog post..Whoops!
@Happiness – Hey! Good to see you around. Take off your suspenders and jump over a bonfire!
Ellen Wilson’s last blog post..Great Photo Tips From E
Brett, just wanted to stop by today and say Happy father’s Day to you. Hope you are being waited on hand and foot!”
hugs,
Wendi
Wendi Kelly’s last blog post..CAN and WILL…and BELIEVE
I know that Marianne Williamson quote, and her books, well! This was such a great post, Brett. Thank you. I think that too often “just the way you are” is interpreted so literally people do nothing at all, which is not the intention, as you mentioned. Our potential is limitless. We are perfect, the way we are created – now if only we could believe it so faithfully and constantly! Imagine what the world would be like if we were all exploring our potential to its fullest.
steph’s last blog post..to my husband, on the occasion of our sixth wedding anniversary
Hi Brett, Great post and thanks for the shout
The “we already have everything we need” concept resonates lots.
Seems like my life and spirit turned a corner (in a good way) when I decided to stand my ground and make my place with the skills I had, rather than chase after ever more education, certificates, etc. to prove that I could do stuff. Why pay for proof that I can do stuff? I can prove it by actually doing the stuff, and I might even get paid to do it. Go figure.
That reads like a no-brainer, but I tell ya, it was earth-shaking stuff when I realized it! LoL
@Ellen—Checked on Buddha’s Birthday, and it’s somewhat in May? It changes every year according to the Western Calendar, and among countries: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha’s_Birthday
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Sometimes we can use the idea of going after more skills, taking that next class, hearing that speaker as ways to keep us from moving forward. They are good unless they keep you from realizing your own greatness and acting on it. That is where I have been for sometime. Brett’s article arriving a few days ago was just more affirmation from my guides that told me, “Quit playing small and insignificant. It isn’t you.” I had to laugh when I read Brett’s article and say, “Okay. Okay, I get the message. Time to quit playing small. As Brett said, we are enough. We do have all of our answers. Now I am going to go write my own article discussing my ideas on this topic.
Patricia – Spiritual Journey Of A Lightworker’s last blog post..Living Life To Its Fullest Means Feeling It All
@Crystal – Not sure when buddhas b-day is but it doesn’t really matter. Or maybe it does. I’m a buddhist/pagan kind of person and I suppose we(I) are prone to going back and forth like that.
Yes, I agree, all this education is silly nonsense. I think we can teach ourselves much better.
@Patricia – I’m sure it will be rockin’! I would like to see what you and the guides say.
Ellen Wilson’s last blog post..Great Photo Tips From E
@Michael- Wow. Thank you for that clip . Double wow.
Hi Viking…you can and you will.
Thanks for inviting us along.
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@Ellen—Yah, I don’t know when to celebrate Buddha’s birthday either, so I just celebrate it whenever I feel like it…my celebrations are bound to coincide with the actual event at some point, I reckon.
And speaking of events, June 19 is Juneteenth, the semi-national holiday for Freedom/Emancipation. Anyone who is free from soul-sucking work to achieve their greatness, or who is on the path to getting free, should celebrate on Thursday
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@All,
I was out of the box for Father’s Day, and today I wrote responses to a lot of you when… the battery on my work laptop died the death – instantly, completely, no warning – and I lost the replies, because I write them in a text editor then paste them in… ack.
Anyhoo…
@Patricia,
Thank you, and you’re welcome – I am happy that this has given you some food for thought – and I agree, Rebecca and Evelyn’s comments built on it.
@Ellen,
I agree – Star Wars does have a very spiritual side to it, which makes it enjoyable in many ways for adults who can see beyond the space opera. I watched some of them with my oldest child and it was kind of fun. He sees the light sabers and blasters, and I can see the story behind the story.
And thank you! Yes, we do celebrate Father’s Day. Friar and I burned all of my wood on Saturday evening, so I’ll have to get more for the next pagan holiday…
@Kelly,
Thank you very much – and your dad is the best dad, for sure, because he made you!
^ ^
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^
o
@RLD,
Thank you very much – I’m glad that my writing gave you something to accompany your coffee – and we really do have all we need – just need to go for it! As Ellen said, jump over the fire!
@Wendi,
Thank you very much, my friend. Everybody looked after me – then again, they always do
@steph,
I liked that quote so much, I’m going to have to track down more of Marianne’s work and read it – very good stuff. Thank *you*, and you’re welcome too.
What you said is so true – people will just settle for what they have, when they can do so much more. Now, this doesn’t mean “don’t be happy with what you have”.
I believe we should all be very grateful for what we have. Yet, we can – we must – reach for more, for our potential. We are all great – and as you say, what would the world be like if we all explored our potential to its fullest?
How much better would the world be if just *one* of us did that?
@Crystal,
Thank *you* for your continued inspiration, you and I are in many ways in the same place in our lives, going through the same trials. You *are* proving it, right now.
@Patricia again,
I look forward to reading that article – I know it will be very good.
@Janice,
Isn’t that video just great? Thank you for your encouragement – we all can, and will.
@Crystal again,
Juneteenth – that sounds great! Maybe I’ll have to play hooky that day
@All again,
I re-read my own words today. I looked at the little index card in the mirror in my bathroom before work.
Today, sitting in a meeting – I knew. I knew, and I know, that I have everything I need. Writing these little pieces, and chatting with you in the comments, helps give me the push I need to go after it.
Let’s go after it together.
Brett, as always you challenge me to do a little more, be a little better and believe that I can and I will. Thank you my kilted wonder friend!
Thank you for saying that Brett. I know that goodness is within each one of us and that we are a lot stringer than we’d sometimes like to believe too. It’s great though to be reminded every once in a while.
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@Karen,
You are welcome, my friend – we continue to challenge each other – feeding off of the energy – and that is good!
@Monika,
Thank *you* for stopping in to say hi, and for all that *you* do. We do need to be reminded from time to time, I agree, and so I read that passage every day and keep moving forward. Soon, soon… we will get there!
@Brett – Oh that sucks. I’ve had that happen to me also.
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What an amazing quote by Marianne Williamson!
I have a lot to say, but it is nearly 3am and I don’t want to say it incorrectly out of fatigue.
Thank you for sharing.
Jaden @ Screenwriting for Hollywood’s last blog post..Sexist America, Racist Hollywood
@Jaden,
You are welcome – thank you for stopping in to say hello – I hope that you got some rest
[...] But, we would miss you. Don’t kill yourself. Remember, you are perfect, just the way you are. [...]
Great stuff. Keep it up!
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@Screenwriting,
Thank you – and thank you for stopping by to say hello.