Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Try.

Try asking the universe for your wildest dream to come true.  I'm not talking about winning the lottery, or buying the mansion at the end of the street.  I speak of the awesome, hidden vision of yourself and your life, the one that lives deep down inside your body, somewhere near your heart.  I speak of the knowledge, that only you have, and that you probably won't admit you have, of what you are capable of doing, capable of contributing, capable of experiencing.  I speak of you, in your highest form, in your prime, living the best version of your life, and helping others to do the same.


Many of us don't dare to share it.  We certainly don't dare to ask for it.  It's sad.  Sometimes I wonder why we think so little of ourselves, as to prevent ourselves from finding true happiness and fulfillment.  I was always told as a child that I could do whatever I wanted, be whatever I wanted.  But the meaning of those words never quite hit me until I read this passage by Marianne Williamson (and made famous by Nelson Mandela) in 2003, on a ship in the middle of the ocean:

“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 am beginning to think that there is really something to this idea.  A few years ago, when it made its debut in pop culture, through Oprah, the documentary "The Secret," and many best-selling books, I felt a similar attraction towards its promise of self-fulfillment and the subsequent ability to enable the dreams of others.  So, a few years back, during the happiest period of my life, I tried it out.  Night after night, for many years and still to this day, I requested the universe grant me the opportunity to live my deepest, wildest, truest dream.  And finally, I feel that it's happening.  I don't quite know how, but it is.  Ask, and you shall receive.


So, go ahead.  That little treasure - that vision of yourself and your life that you've been holding deep inside your heart, allow yourself to ask for it.  Fantasize it. Visualize it. Take action. Stop punishing yourself, and do what you've always known, deep down, you can, and should, do.  I dare you.