How much of the time are you totally amazing? What gets in the way? How can you let your light shine?
Most of us are not all we could be. Something gets in the way. So if you’re ready to hear it, it’s probably you. You get in the way.
I sometimes set an exercise with people on retreat. I tell them that just for one day, they can be nobody; with full permission to drop all the history, the baggage of who ‘I’ am, the way ‘I’ react, ‘my’ values, likes and dislikes, ‘my’ habits and worries. The instruction is just to drop it all.
The effect is varied and always illuminating. Some people immediately let out a huge sigh of relief and go skipping into the sunset; others look worried and disorientated; and some people just smile like a child. It’s lovely to observe, and it almost always generates insights for the people doing it about how constrained they feel in daily life.
The truth is that at our core, we have boundless energy, liveliness and creativity. For myself, at 60, this is something I’m just discovering, and my experience is that it’s only fear that holds me back. When I drop the fear, and just do what comes from the core, I feel limitless.
So try it; but a word of caution: the ego will not like it. You will hear all kinds of good reasons from your internal voice about why not, about why you should stay in your box. And if you do let go, even for an hour, you may feel a little odd. So this is really a practice to do when you feel stable, strong, and settled; and maybe best put off if you’re not in a good place with your mental health.
So if you’re ready, just let the light shine. You are amazing… so go and be brilliant.