Marianne Williamson "Our Deepest Fear"

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's 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're liberated from our own fear,  Our presence automatically liberates others.

 Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could, To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

  Little boy I miss you, with your sudden smile and your ignorance of pain. You walked through life and devoured it with nothing but misty goals to keep you company. 

You wandered through quiet woods with friends and were startled by a shuffling porcupine. Your heart beat mightily when you chased frogs and caught one too big for a single hand. 

There was no time for meaning... a marshmallow gave it on a sharpened stick. A jack knife in your pocket gave you comfort when your friends were gone. A flower hidden in the woods, behind an aging shriveled log. A dog who licked at your fingers and chewed at your jeans. A game of football that you didn't expect, a glass of cider, a crickets cry. When did you lose your eyes and ears? When did taste buds cease to tremble? Whence the sublime-ness, this mounting fear, this quarrel with life, demanding meaning? That mounting fear is leisure's bonus and it's the pain that forbids you to be a boy. Be a girl.

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won, The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; Here Captain! dear father!  This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You’ve fallen cold and dead.
My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I with mournful tread. Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

I'll walk in the rain by your side
I'll cling to the warmth of your tiny hand. I'll do anything to help you understand I'll love you more than anybody can. And the wind will whisper your name to me
Little birds will sing along in time 

The leaves will bow down when you walk by And morning bells will chime
I'll be there when you're feeling down. To kiss away the tears if you cry. I'll share with you all the happiness I've found
A reflection of the love in your eyes
And I'll sing you the songs of the rainbow. Whisper all the joy that is mine. The leaves will bow down when you walk by And morning bells will chime
I'll walk in the rain by your side
I'll cling to the warmth of your tiny hand. I'll do anything to help you understand. I'll love you more than anybody can. The leaves will bow down when you walk by And morning bells will chime

The Road goes ever on and on
    Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone. And I must follow if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
    Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? 

I cannot say.

The Road goes ever on and on
    Out from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone. Let others follow it who can!
Let them a journey new begin,
    But I at last with weary feet
Will turn towards the lighted inn,
    My evening-rest and sleep to meet.

Born free, as free as the wind blows

As free as the grass grows

Born free to follow your heart

Live free and beauty surrounds you

The world still astounds you

Each time you look at a star

Stay free where no walls divide you

You're free as the roaring tide

So there's no need to hide

Born free and life is worth living

But only worth living 

'Cause you're born free

Stay free where no walls divide you

You're free as the roaring tide

So there's no need to hide

Born free and life is worth living

But only worth living 

'Cause you're born free

This life is a prayer
spiraling across time and space
patiently waiting for you to press play
discovering its melody along the way
a mystical, alchemical ballet

but we've forgotten that we chose this
golden opportunity
where awareness is the key
and reality is beauty
truly...
not what you see on the screen
not your exhausting routine
but the infinity of in between
each conscious breath
the precious dance of life and death,
the threshold of dawn,
the miracles we call on,
the marathon of our heart song.

so let the light trickle down
into the deepest cells of your darkest night
softening the rough edges of your mind.
recycling stagnation into inspiration.
trust the descent,
free-fall into the whirlwinds of experience to
learn the laws of consequence.
honor the leaps of faith it takes
to taste the full spectrum of bliss and pain.
and let the flames of grace devour
all your false power long before the final hour.
the sword of truth she wields
will destroy the fields
of mediocrity you cannot see
and compost your uncertainty.

justice is an enchantress
a fierce and loyal mantis praying
weighing our hearts upon her scales
while we carry on chasing our tails
as greed derails
our best intentions for ascension
into selfish incomprehension.
let's suspend our adolescence
our collective acquiescence
perpetuating the same old lessons
and lift the weight of karmic impressions
radically forgive every transgression
discern and detach
from the wanton tangle of wanting that holds us back
stop consuming and start blooming!
break the habit of being ourselves
let our yesterdays die
and recognize
we are here to rise
we are born to fly
gravity is just a frequency,
the dolphins told me.

so no more apologizing to your higher self
for still believing you have to prove that you are worthy
for still choosing to refuse this rebirthing
trade your seeking for finding
and surrender to the blinding
clarity of becoming
all that you are -
destiny is knocking,
stop running
from your pole star.

dance with your despair
sweat out your sorrow
whatever it takes
be here now, not tomorrow
you won't believe
what's the other side of your grief
there is no warranty
because the parts are faulty
only wholeness is true
and you must break down
to break through
making space for the new
the u-nity of you,
perfect and complete
satisfaction guaranteed.

it's not meant to be easy
but keep going, get free
adversity will polish and astonish you
revealing your supreme fortitude
you don't need to be rescued.
the guru is you,
steeped in wonder and gratitude.
your knight in shining armor
is the farmer
who can help you grow
and harvest what you sow
the teacher who asks, what makes you come alive,
not what do you know?
the answers are dead
live the questions instead
with a lover who will hold you
accountable
and when your fear seems insurmountable
and for no reason
throughout the changing seasons

this life is the canvas of creation unfolding
paint your radiance with reverence
as shadows succumb to their planned obsolescence
offer the art you create as medicine
a breath-taking testament, a truth self-evident
a place to belong
beyond right and wrong, and still understood
become the fire growing, the embers glowing, and the wood
the careful reason and wild sentiment,
the crucible and the atonement.
transcendent trust and deepest doubt,
violence and silence, equally devout
the joy and the rage, the fool and the sage
a delicate flower with a lion's might,
the darkness is always equal to the light
and we are the vessel where they unite.

so can we invite our denial to be reconciled,
coax our vulnerability out from exile?
the pain of being born, the agony of form
the losses we all mourn,
the betrayal of our greatness,
how can we integrate this?

we'll never win by digging our heels in
to a shore that's surely sterile
the water's edge is full of peril
as waves of doubt collide with
broken paradigms
begging to be redefined

so let go and trust the current to carry you
gently down the stream
get intimate with the deep
merrily marrying wisdom and love
as below, so above

we are the jewel within the lotus, and the mud.
the driest drought and the monsoon flood.
the last breath and the first blood,
and the clarity to truly see
that i am you and you are me
and we are not two, but three
body, mind, and spark of divine
love,
that holiest of holies,
expanding throughout eternity
resurrecting beauty,
and planting sacred seeds of peace.

water them with your story
fertilize the mystery
and cultivate spaciousness
with courageous playfulness
to blossom through you and all that you do

take responsibility for installing your own updates
elevate your inner state
and resonate with less particle, more wave
reclaim your multi-dimensionality
connect with the song you carry

earth is hiring
life is waiting
a quantum awakening pulses at your core
start settling for more
become the one you most adore

a soul that heals is the one who feels
so feel your way through the dark
to the inner chamber of your heart
make this your greatest work of art

open
soften
be reborn into tender warmth
melt into the golden, velvet sweetness
taste the purity that's ceaseless
and weave your big dreams
into the web of the unseen
may all beings be free.
may we stop playing small and dissolve the walls.
may grace surround our hearts unbound
and attune us to the unstruck sound.

  Why did all those demons arrive at my birth?

Why did they tell me I had so little worth?

Why did they point so viciously at the dirt covering my soul?

Why did they tell me that I wasn’t part of the whole?

One night, when I was struggling with life more than usual,

and my mind was psychotic and my sight delusional,

one of those demons came to me in darkness,

turned on the light and I saw with true sharpness.

This was not the demon of shadow and dark,

but the friend and companion that I held in my heart.

Though they held a different form, 

a different part,

they were drawn from the same brush, the same art.

And what they were pointing at, that I thought was me,

was simply the spots,

the dirt and debris,

that has been carried for ten thousand years

the source of all fears and many of our tears.

I attracted them here,

this old soul friend,

to remind me of me so I could transcend that which my ancestors have carried aloft,

so that future humans don’t suffer the cost.

And I saw in that moment,

an enemy become friend,

their scales shed,

and their horns descend,

love replaced fear and fangs became smiles,

as my nemesis became companion on my journey of trials.

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.