One of my favorite inspirational speeches is written by Marianne Williamson’s “Our Greatest Fear” The last part of this amazing speech says

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 were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.

It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give

other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our fear,

our presence automatically liberates others.

We have all experienced times in our lives where we didn’t want other to feel intimidated or offended by our intelligence or talents so we “dimmed our light.” We don’t want to seem like we are bragging, boasting or better than others. I know there were many conversations or things I didn’t share with people that were close to me because I didn’t want to be perceived as thinking I was better. But what I have learned is the talents and gifts that God gave me are not to be “dimmed” but to shine. It is ok to excel. Perhaps everyone will not receive the gifts well but there will be others that my gifts will challenge them to be better and strive for higher goals. I have learned that I was created to let my light shine and so are you.

Lesson 5: Keep your lights on high beams!