"In our relationships we need to
uphold that aspect of the person
which is the real person and the soul
beyond their own self-doubt."
-- Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan
With the thousands of thoughts going through our heads and all that is going on around us, and communicated to us via various media, and other humans, it's amazing that we do as well as we do. There is so many opportunities to grow, to become, to do, to love, to enjoy, to delight in, and there are also those opportunities to feel self-doubt, feeling broken, feeling self-pity, feeling small and insignificant, feeling unworthy. I also know for certain that we all make those choices ourselves. The only difference is that many times these choices are made unconsciously rather than deliberately.
Here's a great quote to illustrate a bit of that contrast. It is said to be from Chippewa translated by Robert Bly: "Sometimes I go about pitying myself, and all the time I am being carried on great winds across the sky."
A Serbian Proverb states, "Be humble for you are made of Earth. Be noble for you are made of stars." It is easy to forget where we came from. It is wonderful to be reminded.
The most famous and often used quote, although not in its intended depth, by Marianne Williamson, is my all time favorite from her inspiring book, A Return To Love, so I delight in the opportunity to share it again:
"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? You are a child of God. 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. 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 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."
If we will remember (re-member) that each and every one of the humans on this planet, regardless of race, sex, religious affiliation or belief, all came from the exact same source. In this we are all equal. Yet, it is absolutely clear to me now that we all came here with different intentions. Once here, it doesn't take long in the constant distractions of living life with others to forget (dis-member) who we really are, where we came from and that all of us are part of the same Source, or God. Remembering just this one little yet powerful thing is so helpful.
Audrey Hepburn said, "People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone." With all the contrast and different intentions in this world, it is easy to see someone you don't like and throw them away, and it doesn't matter if they are in your office or on the other side of the world. Of course, the further away and the less like you, the easier it is to discard them. Yet, that is the darkness that Marianne talks about and that is not us.
We need to uplift people, if only because we know that we all are from the same Source. Yet we cannot lift people up unless we are there, which is why we sometimes put people down. "It is our light that frightens us." However, if we will accept that we are a child of God, that we matter, that we are worthy, that we are powerful, from that remembered, renewed, revived, reclaimed, restored and redeemed place, we rise to our proper and designed level of being and from that place have the power and insight to uplift others. And, we will do so consciously, and unconsciously.
Be The Uplifter You Were Born To Be. It Must Begin With You, First.
Spread Some Joy Today--by remembering who you are and connecting with that inner Source.
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