This past week I was talking with
Jeremy's youngest sister about graduating high school. We were conversing about
the scary yet exciting changes life brings us, and I told her the best advice I
had for her was to own it. To own every experience as your very own. I said
that if she walked into her dorm, or onto that campus feeling like she belonged
there, she would.
I think this advice applies to every
part of life.
Each and every one of us, in
every single situation, is important. Without us, there is nothing.
We are existence.
We are not small.
Our purposes need to be known. We
need to believe with every ounce of courage we have that WE are important. That
WE are the difference. In every situation.
That the phrases changing lives,
changing the world, and changing the future aren't just nice thoughts..
they are literal obtainable
goals.
All it takes is a believer.
We should not sit when we wish to stand.
we should not hide ourselves behind
"I can'ts" or "I'm scared."
We don't belong in our dark rooms, or
our crowded minds.
We belong in the knowledge that
through genuine action, hope, and faith..
anything is possible.
By this I don't mean you need to
shout at the white house, or resist taking a shower until animals are treated
better, or become a teacher and teach a thousand students.
by this I simply mean that you are
the owner to your own life. Make the most of it, become the best you can be.
Believe in who you are, and know that anything you want to do, no matter how
small, can be done.
be the master of your own fate.
Where my words fail, this poem leaps
boundaries. It has always been one of my all time favourites. And lately, I
find it coming to mind a lot more often. Pay attention to it. Believe in it. Apply
it to yourself.
and know that the author is right.
"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.
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 were all meant to shine
as children, 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."
Believe in yourself not just
for yourself, but for everyone. For your friends, for your family, for
humanity.
no more playing it safe.
