"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, and 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 are 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." The above speech by Nelson Mandela was orignally written by Marianne Williamson who is the author of other similar material."
The above speech by Nelson Mandela [ED: See footer note regarding speech origins] indicates a man who over nearly 40 years in prison, thought deeply, read much and tried his best to understand human nature. In the course of that journey he developed a firm belief in God and by doing so, learned love for man followed by sensitivity, compassion and an attempt at understanding all as well as the roles they played in his life.
If we actually look at some of the things he talks about. For instance he clearly says, our deepest fears is that we are too powerful and not nearly as inadequate as we profess. For many of us this is a contradiction, simply because for most of us our greatest fear is that we are inadequate, helpless and of no consequence in the grand scheme of life. That is our negativity which is self-destructive. He goes on to talk about the light. The light he refers to comes from the soul within, that all of us have. He specifically refers to love and hope leading us forward towards ever continuing growth and understanding of ourselves and accordingly, others around us. For without hope, life is darkness. Darkness is fear and bigotry, the road to self-destruction and denial of all our human virtues. If severe enough, it leads to our soul going to sleep for self protection.
Each of us on this earth are unique for we are a combination of the divine spark that ignites our soul and the growth of character due to our lifestyle and time of existence. Most of us are born complete and basically healthy. We do not look the same, behave the same or think exactly the same because we are unique. Depending on the lifestyle we lead, we develop into a creature of great hope and growth on one hand, positive and virile in character. On the other hand, if too much darkness is present in our earlier existence, we stumble forward with lack of hope and integrity and we therefore spend a lifetime in ever-growing fear due to the negativity and lack of hope within.
God created the divine spark which is the soul of man and in doing so, he gave us freewill so that we may grow and be enlightened. The sole requirement of each of us as a human being in this life is therefore to grow our character, which should result in ever-increasing happiness and help us towards inner peace and fulfilment. The journey to that point is sometimes hard and even very distressing and there can be much suffering for some. But during our journey, each of us must fulfil our destiny, often unknown to us in the early part of life but becoming more apparent as the journey progresses. We, man, can reach for the stars in our greatness, and the achievements are many in life. But these can only happen when we are in harmony with our soul and walk in our own light of hope, learning to understand the value of integrity and honesty of purpose. The journey can be a lonely one at times for no-one but we ourselves can make that journey. We must therefore strive to believe in the power that is manifested within us, by that spark which we call life. We must believe that we are greater than we are at any point in time and that purity of thought is translated into progress. Then our journey will create a truer being of loving grace and greatness. All life functions on the basis of evolution and the inevitable consequences of this is that only those of us who develop our maximum potential will know the true meaning of peace and happiness and being at one with our soul, and therefore God.
He gave the world a new dimension of understanding across the divide between black and white, across cultures and by being a living embodiment of his firm belief in God, and the goodness and ability of mankind. He has in the short time that he has been free, given much to many people. But if he just teaches us one simple fact, that if we remove our fears which are mainly unfounded, as well as the negative parts of our nature, we will liberate ourselves, allowing the abilities we have within us grow and flourish, therefore giving us a chance to find out just how much power we have in terms of personal ability, to build our own place in the season of our being.