Our deepest fear

by wanderlustguy 15 Replies latest jw friends

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  wanderlustguy

  "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 oursleves, "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 prescence automatically liberates others."

  Nelson Mandela

  For some reason this keeps coming to mind...so I posted it.
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  bikerchic

  You are a child of God.

  While I can't agree to that statement if I do then I sure have a neglectful father. Otherwise thems nice words.

  Question who are you flipping off in your avatar? I always thought it was doG. Maybe it's the WTS?
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  wanderlustguy

  A child of God could mean many things, while I don't believe in the literal God as people normally think of the term, it serves a purpose even in this statement. We are of something more than ourselves, in my opinoin, whether it be deemed "our potential" as in the opportunity we have to be better than we are, as we enjoy conscious thought, the point is the same. We are born great, it is by choice we stop short of our potential.

  Also this is a quote...so it would be wrong to remove the parts I don't agree with.

  He's flipping off The Society...God never did anything to me.

  WLG
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  bikerchic

  Well yeah I can understand the idealism of "coming from something" I came from my Mother and her Mother before her and so on......in AA they use the term higher power, eh whatever floats your boat. I've come to the conclusion that for me it really doesn't matter, I'm here so deal with it (life) ten seconds after I'm gone I'll be forgotten anyway and so it goes. I don't need no stinking doG to find my potential or my conscience.

  He's flipping off The Society...God never did anything to me.

  Yeah I can live with that!
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  m. kirov

  thank you!!!!!!! when i moved into my apt (first time w/o room mates!) i put up a green striped card that i had just found a week before that qoutes the first two sentances. i never heard the rest in anysort of context.
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  tetrapod.sapien

  beautiful, WLG. the first thought i had, of course, is that our deepest fear is knowing that we are alone in the universe, but after reading the quote, i see that it is only a part of our fear of brilliance. to be truly brilliant, we must see that we are not alone even without a god, and realize our potential.

  regarding being a child of god, bikerchic, i would say that if we view ourselves as gods, then we are children of gods, and made in our own image.

  fear. here are some that i like:

  I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

  Frank Herbert, Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear, "Dune"
  US science fiction novelist (1920 - 1986)

  "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."

  - Yoda

  nelson was right.

  (pass the doob man)...

  ts
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  Es

  WB missed ya

  es
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  skinnyboy

  Ah one of my favourite quotes ever. I'm going to print that out right now and put it above my computer! Theres nothing more disabling than living in fear of success!
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  poppers

  "As we are liberated from our own fear, our prescence automatically liberates others."

  There is a deeper truth hidden here. Look for the one who would fear anything. Find this 'me' that fears, struggles, seeks, condemns. What is it exactly? If you really look all you will find of it are a bunch of ideas only. You cannot 'be' an idea. So if you are not an idea then what are you? Look and find out directly - the finding out of what you really are is the liberation. That liberation rests in/as the presence of what you actually are. What are you waiting for?
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  SixofNine

  That's a great quote, WLG. I'm pretty sure that Nelson Mandela was just quoting it himself, however. I believe the original author is a woman poet (not absolutely sure on that however). I made a post on this a year or so ago, I'll try to find it.