“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 are all meant to shine, as children do. 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.” – Marianne WilliamsonOnly when we begin to serve our deepest self do we begin to truly serve the world. We are not here to suffer, to hide, to step behind. We are here to step up, and into ourselves. We are here to pursue what makes each of us uniquely and truly happy. Because when we do this, we are pursuing the passion of our soul–and our reason for being on this planet. And to those who say this is selfish, that better people sacrifice their own happiness, I say this:
“Contemporary research shows that happy people are more altruistic, more productive, more helpful, more likable, more creative, more resilient, more interested in others, friendlier, and healthier. Happy people make better friends, colleagues, and citizens.” – Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness ProjectSo stop telling us we need to put ourselves last in order to be celebrated. I call bull$shit on that.
Really, REALLY love this post! I’m going to share it as well – inspiring, beautiful and right on! “We are not here to suffer, to hide, to step behind. We are here to step up, and into ourselves.” – love this especially :)
I love this too !! One of the reasons I do is because I have always marched to the beat of my own drummer as a Mother,( ok as a person too !) in that I gave to myself, while spending quality time with my daughters, by NOT doing what was the ” Norm ” , but listening to my heart. Was I perfect ? Nope, but I feel confident that my daughters can think for themselves instead of doing what is expected of them based on other peoples standards ! I am absolutely certain I provided a great topic of gossip for a number of people over the years, because I threatened their ” shoulds ” of parenting while looking way too happy while doing it.. but I wouldn’t trade those years for a moment ! The smile on my face right now is testament.
I whole-heartedly agree! Here’s a quick story that relates to twisted priorities:
Years ago, the bank where I worked honoured a colleague in front of hundreds of staff, for leaving his family who were on a picnic to take care of a work emergency.
I couldn’t leave my job soon enough.
5 Comments
Loved this- thanks for posting.
This is so true. Wish i understood this decades ago!