“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 frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' 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 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 all of us. And when 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
Wow.
The first phrase or two of that quote is used pretty frequently but I don't know that I ever truly paid much attention to it until I saw it posted on Facebook the other day and it really resonated with me. In our world today, we tend to compare ourselves to everyone and everything. Mostly society and the media has made it this way and we play into it. We are told to be thin, but not too skinny because that's unattractive. We are told to be fit, but don't have too much muscle because no one wants a girl that looks like a man. We are told to be confident but also shy and reserved as if we are oblivious to our own beauty. We are told to be strong and opinionated, but not too bossy or feminist because strong-willed women are intimidating. We are told to be sexy and playful but don't be a tease or easy because no one will respect you.
Do you see where I am going with this?
It is so easy to get wrapped up in who this world is telling us to be. I have really struggled this past year finding my place in the modeling industry because I am often told I am not thin enough, I have too much of an athletic figure, or I just don't seem to be what they are looking for. It gets discouraging to constantly feel like you don't match up or that you're too much of one thing and not enough of another.Then I am reminded of who created me and who I belong to. Who are they to tell me I am not good enough? Who I am to tell myself that I'm not thin enough, pretty enough, or exotic enough? I am beginning to think we tell ourselves these things so we will have an excuse because in all honesty, how truly terrifying is it to realize your true potential? If we give ourselves reasons why we are not good enough, we can allow ourselves to remain mediocre, right in the middle of the pack with everyone else. It's much easier that way.
But... what if we were to actually allow ourselves to reach our full potential? What if we started to believe in ourselves and the person we were made to be as much as God believes in us? What if we accepted that we have the power to do ANYTHING and we weren't created to be ordinary but EXTRAORDINARY.
Here's the deal. The world may tell us we are or we aren't a million different things but the world doesn't have that power. We do. We tell ourselves what we are and are not capable of. We are the ones who sell ourselves short of all of the amazing opportunities and plans God has for our lives because we are scared of being great. We tell ourselves that it's too hard or too much pressure or we just aren't "cut out for it", but that's not what Christ tells us. He tells us "for NOTHING is impossible with God!" Not some things, absolutely NOTHING.
He didn't create us to try to fit into society and their stereotypes and requirements with limits to what we are and are not capable of. He made us each an individual. Each unique with our own specific purpose and the ability to be all of the things we dream of being.
Don't let the world convince you that you are unworthy of all things amazing. God chooses no favorites and there is not one person on this earth that he didn't give the potential to be great. But He does leave it up to us to choose to be great and it's up to us to live our lives to our greatest potential. He has given us all of the skills and abilities but without belief in ourselves, in our worth, and in our destiny, we will fail to comprehend the amount of power that we hold and what we can do with it.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. Don't let the fear of being great cripple you. God has so much more planned for you than you probably even have planned for yourself. If you can convince yourself to believe that then you're already halfway there.