Think Different

You've probably seen this video. I'm pretty sure I had. But what I didn't realize is that it was actually inspired by a famous quote that I'm almost positive you've heard before:

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 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.

This is often quoted as having been said by Nelson Mandela - that's where I first heard it, in college - but actually, Mandela never even used this in any of his speeches. I was stunned to find out that it was actually Marianne Williamson who wrote these famous words, and in the cosmic way I believe the world works, Marianne Williamson is the one who wrote the inspiration that I put up on my vision board, and talked about in this post. I plan on asking the universe for one of her books for Christmas or something. I'll let you know how it goes, and in the meantime, don't let yourself get in the way of being the best version of you!

Friendship

It's a word that many take for granted every day, including myself. "Friendship." You're "friends" with the guy across the street, your funny coworker, your roommate's colleague. But you're also friends with your best bud from your childhood, your confidant from high school, and your floormate from the dorms in college. You're friends with your classmates, your associates, your roommates, your neighbors.

So how do we distinguish between them?

I have been talking with a friend who was never really my friend until recently. And she is always talking about love - the capacity we have for it, its importance in life. She is so good at projecting her love, and letting others see it. Whereas I... not so much. Love is one of those things that we can't just let exist - we do have to work to express it, and I have trouble with that.

The ancient greeks have at least five different words for love, all different, describing different understandings of the complexities of love. Mania, love of possession, or obsession, storge, love of a mother for her child, eros, love of the body, or physical love, philia, love of the mind, or virtue, equality, and familiarity that is felt along with kinship, and agape, love of the soul. From greeceindex.com, "Agape is the highest form of love there is. This is an unconditional love for others in spite of their character flaws and weaknesses. It is a difficult love to obtain simply because we, as humans, are usually concerned more with ourselves and how the world and people around us affect us. In order to love in the agape way, we must overcome our selfishness and look to the needs of others."


This is how I feel about my friends. It is more than the typical friendly love, the philia, although there are many for whom I have that love as well.  And while I struggle to show it, and try to overcome my earthly burdens, I want to remind them. To let them know they are on my mind daily. And although my love for them is intangible, I spent the last week making this for them, in hopes that they will see it and know that they mean the world to me.


To my friends:

love is what we were born with

I'm working on something HUGE right now... ... ...


          I thought I was going to have it done two days ago, but it's so huge that it's taking me forever... ... ..



                  So in the meantime, here's something else that I made yesterday to put on my vision board! May it find you and inspire you to love yourself for who you are.

Text Copyrighted by Marianne Williamson © Living Life Fully®, all rights reserved