On Being Great :: Williamson Quote
In Marianne Williamson’s book “A Return to Love”, we find a quote that has great application in our lives…
“…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.”
As this quote points out, one of our biggest struggles in life is overcoming ourselves, not our adversaries. Often we hold ourselves back from reaching great heights, more than any other attribute. How does this apply to the job of an instructional designer? I think that projects that require great creativity also require us to go out on a “limb” much of the time. Great breakthroughs only come from someone who is willing to see things differently than everyone else. If we are too afraid to go with our talents we are, in effect saying that we are too afraid to reach greatness.
So how does humility fit into this? Couldn’t it be seen that thinking of our own greatness is prideful? Perhaps. However, in my opinion, pride only comes in when we claim personal responsibility for the results of our inspiration. If we are careful to give credit where credit is due, then we should do great things. Otherwise we may be wasting talent that the Lord expects us to use.