What would the world be like if everyone was free to shine, to reach their highest potential, to joyfully give their gifts to the world?  It seems obvious that we and those around us would benefit tremendously from our willingness to be brilliant.  But we hold ourselves down out of fear - fear of failure and criticism, fear of success and new expectations, fear that we will make others around us feel bad because of our brilliance.  Marianne Williamson talks about these ideas in her famous passage from A Return to Love.  She writes, “We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. . . .  And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”  I was reminded of this recently by my coach, Mari Guas.  He said, “What if you were a rich man with plenty to eat, and a poor man came to your door begging for food?  Would you withhold the extra food that you have?”  Each of us has a gift for the world.  It is our birthright to claim our brilliance and our privilege to share it with the world. 

Often the fear that holds us back is an irrational fear, a story that we tell ourselves that isn’t true.  For instance, I once wanted to get out of an apartment lease, but avoided calling the landlord because I figured it would be costly or a big hassle.  When I finally did call, I discovered that it was no big deal, as long as she could get someone else in the apartment soon.  Another time I avoided calling a fellow coach I knew about because he seemed to really have his stuff together, and I imagined that he didn’t have time for me.  When I finally got together with him, I found that we each had gifts to share with each other.  So the questions are, “What’s the story you’re telling yourself?” and “Is that true?”  Byron Katie asks this question when she does “The Work.”  She goes on to ask, “Who would you be without that thought?”  When we question our self-limiting beliefs, we give ourselves permission to step out, be authentic, and share our gifts with the world.

So if fear is the problem, can’t we just dispel fear entirely?  If it were possible, this would be a dangerous business.  Imagine a parent whose house is on fire.  The fearless person who acts with abandon and the person paralyzed by fear are both dangerous.  The combination of fear and courage keeps us and those around us out of the killing fire.  Like a samurai warrior, we must keep our fear out in front of us, feel our power, and move through our fear.  Bruce Anderson and Judith O’Conner, in their book Leadership Mastery Map, ask “What are you not doing now out of fear, rejection, or loss?”  Practice stepping out of your comfort zone in small ways at first, and increase your adventures every day.  Courage takes practice, and a practice of courage leads to greatness.

But won’t being great give me a huge ego?  That is certainly possible.  In the Middle Ages, no one would tell the king what they really thought for fear of losing their head, so the king sanctioned the jester to make fun of the king, to keep his ego in check and let the king know when his thinking was stifled.  Today the role of the jester for the president is taken up by political cartoonists and comedians.  You and I can create this role for ourselves by asking someone we trust to watch out for our inflated egos and bad ideas and to tell us about it in a compassionate and constructive way.

When you hear about giving, you may say, “But I’m giving too much already.  I’m tired and have no time to take care of myself.”  There is certainly truth in the scarcity of our time.  As the airline assistant reminds us as he or she demonstrates the oxygen mask, it is important that we take care of ourselves first before we administer to others.  Another truth, though, is that when we are connected to the universe (God, Great Spirit, the source, etc.) the energy of the universe can flow out through us, and we find that our energy given in this way does not diminish our resources.  In fact, as James Redfield writes in the Celestine Vision, if others around us give in the same way, there is actually an increase in our collective energy.  So it is therefore important to get quiet and connected to an energy that pervades the universe and dwells within and through us.  To access this eternal well, find a spiritual practice that fits for you and practice daily.

Do you give to be liked and admired, or do you give from compassion and generosity?  If you expect something in return, you will always wonder whether people really like you for who you are, and you will be disappointed when you don’t get what you want in return.  If this is you, your task is to love and accept yourself unconditionally.  When you are filled with love for yourself, you no longer depend on the approval of others, and you give because it is natural to give.  You can give anonymously, tell no one, and feel at peace.  Loving and accepting yourself is also a daily practice.  If you resist loving yourself, you might benefit from imagining yourself as a newborn baby.  At your core, you are lovable.  It is your birthright to be loved.

When you hear about taking risks, you may argue that you have risked before and been hurt too badly.  We all may suffer failures and losses whether we start a business, get married, or speak out against injustice.  Thomas Edison made one thousand attempts to invent the light bulb before he succeeded.  When asked about this, Edison replied that he had no failures.  He said he had discovered a thousand ways to not invent the light bulb.  If we look carefully, each of our disappointments, failures, and losses holds a gift or learning within it.  If nothing else, we at least know compassion for others in a similar situation.  Even though we may feel disappointment in a recent venture, if we look behind us at our journey, we may see that we have made significant progress, and we can celebrate and take heart that our current situation is an important milestone on our journey.

Finally, each of us has within us a king or queen and a spiritual sage that we can access.  This archetypal part within has wisdom, the ability to see beauty and potential in the people and things around us, and the capacity to love and bless ourselves and those around us.  We can access this part by imagining our scared part out in front of us, so that we can step back and get perspective.  We can then step into the role of the sovereign or sage as an observer to our situation and our scared part.  From this place we as the sovereign or sage can offer observations and blessings to the other parts of our personality.  We can then keep a compassionate eye on our fear as we move through the world from a place of power.

It is a simple thing to say that we can all shine and create a fabulous world together.  There is no switch to flip that will create immediate brilliance.  Instead we must practice – practice questioning our false beliefs, practice being one with the universe, practice taking excellent care of ourselves, practice giving freely from a place of abundance, practice loving and blessing ourselves, practice seeing the world as beautiful, and practice stepping courageously out of our comfort zone.  We must practice like Edison, trying on a different filament every day, until one morning we awake to find the whole world filled with light.