Shine on baby...continued

An interesting thing happened to me Friday evening, the very same day of this original post (see below). Andy and I had a nice dinner followed by a trip to the bookstore. Isn't this everyone's favorite way of spending a Friday night? My first request was for this book. No luck, so instead of making a dash to my favorite section, yoga of course, I veered off in the opposite direction. First checking out the art section then going downstairs to the business section. As we all know, I'm officially a "small business owner", but to be completely honest, I know little to nothing about running a business. I'm learning as I go and believing wholeheartedly that following my passion will pay off. That and a whole lot of persistence, work and discipline. Anyway, to say that the business section was a bit boring is putting it mildly. I picked a few books up, flipped through some pages, not a hint of interest, so I placed them back on the shelf. I asked myself, and Andy, "why do all of these books look exactly the same." I understand that they are written for the business world, but the bland covers, generic fonts, and the manner in which they are written did absolutely nothing for me. I was in search of a colorful title, a creative, enticing cover, and marketing material written in a more exciting and innovative manner? Is that too much too ask? Apparently so.

So back upstairs I went to my second most favorite section, self-help. And yes, I'm completely ok with that :-) At least in this section I can find books that are colorful, creative and interesting. To me they are anyway. Sark is the perfect example. I ended up finding this great hardback book, so I plopped down on the floor and flipped through the pages. It was along the lines of living creatively. I had convinced myself that I really wanted the book, but after careful consideration, I decided not to get it. And being that I can't even remember the title now, it was probably a good decision. I told myself that being a "small business owner" and not having that steady check coming in means giving up a few things. And Friday night it meant not having that book. I decided to go home and go to my own personal library and pull a book out I hadn't looked at in a while. I opened the book and this is the page that it landed on, the very first place I fixed my eyes was on this passage:

"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 is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not in just some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

And anyone who knows me, knows that I do not believe in coincidences. I thought hmm, the universe is telling me something here. I had written that very passage only hours earlier. It was very bizarre and wonderful. I also learned that the passage was not written by Nelson Mandela. It was actually Marianne Williamson. Nelson Mandela has quoted the passage in a speech. Sorry Marianne, the credit is all yours.