Hiding Your Power

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?

- Marianne Williamson

Are you hiding your power? Or worse, pretending you don’t have any?

Do you know the effect of your smile?

The way it can transform a rotten day into one of hope and shared humanity?

Do you understand that your compliments can be revolutionary?

That your kindness can be food to a malnourished soul?

That your encouragement can make all the difference?

Why do you act like that is a small and insignificant thing?

You have the power to change hearts, to open them, expand them.

Why is that not enough to feel your worth in your bones?

Doesn’t it matter that you can make a difference to someone who doesn’t even know how much they need your light until it illuminates all the places they hurt?

Because it matters to me.

When we deny our infinite power, we become careless with it. Stingy, even. We give it only when it means something to us.

Maybe we think it will run out if we spend it too freely.

It won’t.

What if we embraced our ability to make each other’s lives better no matter how small the gesture?

What if we threw ourselves into it like our lives depended on it?

What if we gave our light away freely, generously, and without thought of ourselves?

Could we change the world one person at a time?

I know I am changed. It was no small thing for me. And I believe it is no small thing for any of us.

This world is hard, but kindness is a prayer we pray for each other.

Writing Prompt:

When was the last time you dismissed your impact? What would it take to believe your light mattered?