You may have heard this quote by Marianne Williamson a lot in the last few years. It hit me at a deep level when I heard it in the movie Akeelah and the Bee four or so years ago, and it’s stayed with me ever since.

I brought it up with a client today and our discussion got me wondering–is this really true?

Here’s what I think. I think we all have a part of us who IS afraid that we are inadequate. And we have a part that is afraid we are powerful. But now, why would it frighten us to be powerful?

I read “powerful” as “responsible.” I think when we are in a part that fears our inner power, we are worried about not being able to control that power, to wield it for good, to use it in Right Action. And this part of us worries about all that we could destroy…maybe even the world.

I say that our real goal is to attain full Beingness (you can call it Presence, Self, HIgher Self, Union with Spirit, or perhaps Enlightenment). When we are in our full Beingness, we have choice. We have options. And being able to sit among all our options and choose wisely IS power.

Our true power lies in our ability to clearly and calmly perceive our surroundings with deep compassion and wisdom. This compassion tells us we all spring from the same Source and this wisdom tells us that, no matter what our actions, Spirit has got us.

From this place, we can choose how to respond, whether it is to declare a deep “NO,” to place a loving hand upon a friend, or to simply sit in the moment.

And this place of full choice, full comprehension, and full heart…there is nothing scary about it.

* For those who do not know Marianne Williamson’s lovely passage, I’ve included the full quote below.

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 doesn’t 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.

-Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love

Those of you who know me, follow my blog or have been clients know that I’m nuts about the enneagram, a personality type system based on ancient Sufi wisdom that tells us about our spiritual life paths.

But I rarely talk about the enneagram on this site. It always felt…too big and complex to truly honor.

Now I know what I was really waiting for–this concept that my close friend and biz partner Dina and I created. It’s a website, blog, set of service offering and events, all focused on the enneagram.

I hope you check out Enneagram Lovers and subscribe to it if you love it. I sure do!

We helped over thirty women get connected to something they wanted to change in their lives, release it, and then use positive intention to attract their hearts’ desires.

I just found a couple photos of this workshop on Laura’s interactive magazine WWISH and wanted to share some of the positive energy we generated that day.

I’m always amazed by the serendipity and magic of life. I had thought this would be my last radio show…the spark seemed to have left and I figured why keep doing something that isn’t giving back to me on some level. I don’t expect to make any money on my show, but I’d better at least be enjoying myself and hopefully helping some people.

But with so few listeners and little feedback and dimishing enjoyment, I didn’t feel like I was getting any return on this show.

Then Spirit/Serendipity/Loki, or whatever you’d like to call it, jumped in and waggled its behind at me. Ha! Surprise caller! The show goes a little off the rails! And honestly, everything was better for it.

Yeah, I know this is the post where usually I talk about the content of the show, but this seems to be more important. Just like the show was sidetracked in the best way, so should my post about it be.

I think this was a huge reminder (I need them often, cause I forget important and profound things all the time). It was a reminder that when I try to force things to happen, to grab at any mood or idea or plan, I’m not aligned with my greatest good.

So what if I just hold my plans lightly? What if I believe in my goals and ideas, but I don’t get quite so committed to how they happen?

What if (ha! again) I remember to TRUST SPIRIT?!!!

When I did this, I found out a most useful thing about my radio show plan:

1) I’ll agree to do this show as long as the schedule keeps coming easily (my next guest for Feb 12th just fell into my lap right after I got off the air).
and more importantly,
2) I am NOT a stand-and-deliver speaker.

I realized this because I enjoyed this show more than any I’ve done so far, and I believe it’s precisely because we all went “off script.” Most of my talking points and plans went out the window once my mystery caller came on. And I LOVED what happened to the conversation once it did.

Yeah, I can deliver points, give a speech, what-have-you, if I need to. But I don’t really love it. And here’s the key point: it’s NOT my true calling.

But facilitating something new, a conversation that goes a little off into creativity, that generates some heat and some light and some new thoughts. Hells yeah! I’m into that!

So expect to hear something fresher and livelier from my next shows. I may make mistakes, be surprised and certainly less polished, but my guess is I’ll sound like I’m feeling more me. And I hope that’s what you all want to be hearing anyway.

**If you’re curious about the caller who became our additional guest on the show, you can listen in by scrolling down a bit and selecting the show called “Building Trust” in the media player on the right-hand side of this page.

An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.”

We turn not older with the years, but newer every day.”

Courage is only an accumulation of small steps.”

If today were perfect, there would be no need for tomorrow.”

If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.”

I found these great quotes on a set of cards from Borealis Press.

Ok, this may not be the most pithy or fascinating blog post from me, but here’s the thing: it’s spring.

And sometimes when the weather perks up, the crocuses bloom, and the wind carries, not a bite, but a caress, we can feel good. It’s not about doing the deep, dark work. It’s about having a heartful of love.

And that’s a great time to be generous. Smile openly at a stranger…with your lips and your eyes. Hug a friend for no reason. Find something that inspires you, fills you up with joy, and pass it on!