Designing a life that you love involves a lot of self-awareness, self-discipline and self-love. If you’re anything like me, that last bit is the hardest. If you are looking for a relatively easy and inexpensive way to buoy your spirituality, thusly increasing your ability to love yourself, you should look no further than Marianne Williamson. She is a follower and teacher of A Course in Miracles, acclaimed author, and founder of Project Angel Food, in addition to various other altruistic and civic-minded endeavors. She wrote the following in her book, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles, that is often attributed to Nelson Mandela:
“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.”
I remember reading that for the first time when I was in college and feeling like a thirsty plant that had just been watered. It is still a very special thing to find people in this world that will lift you up rather than try to tear you down, so having the opportunity to be in the presence of someone like Marianne is really an amazing gift that you can give yourself. She gives talks most Monday’s in Los Angeles at the Saban Theater, but if you can’t make it in person, she now has a livestream available! You must sign up prior to the talk at her website, marianne.com, and then you can listen at your leisure up to 72 hours later. These talks are provided for free, although if you are moved to donate, that is appreciated. She speaks, in-depth, about lessons in TCIM and relates them to issues present in our lives and society. It includes prayer and meditation, music and a question and answer session. I have found this to be a welcome addition to my spiritual pursuits and I listen to the playback every Tuesday morning, as I’m not available on Monday evenings, unfortunately. I’m slowly working my way through TCIM book and work book, in addition to reading A Return to Love.
How do you take care of yourself? What sort of spiritual endeavors are you presently pursuing? Leave me a note in the comments!!
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