Self-mastery Nº90
You are limited by light, not darkness
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.
— Marianne Williamson
They say our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate—it is that we are powerful beyond measure. Your darkness doesn’t frighten you. It is your light. What you are truly capable of. There is nothing enlightened or honourable about shrinking or dimming your light so other people won’t feel insecure about you. Your light can’t shine without you, and that is your responsibility.
Forget how you seem for a moment. You are special. A composer. A creator. The world is filled with people spending their lives looking back. Leading themselves to their lonely pasts as kids waiting to be loved for who they were, for the world to live up to their stubbornly optimistic expectations.
What creates your light is that you aren’t satisfied with your reality. And that’s what makes you… you. It may feel like being who you want to be does not pay off quickly enough—because that’s the tough thing about consistency. “You feel aimless. You’re not improving as quickly as you like. But it’s like kicking a door or breaking a piñata: you have to just keep going until something breaks,” says Ava.
I crudely think of letting my light shine like meditation: you can’t just zone out. You have to be there, watching yourself practice. You have to pay attention to what you’re doing right and wrong. It’s unlikely that you will sit there and regret choosing what we felt was right for you (and that’s when our light brightens), but you will regret letting the moment pass without making the right decision for yourself.
I want you to take away this: the things you fear are not real. What is real already exists. It sounds obvious, but we forget it more often than we like to believe. It’s why most of us suffer from overthinking.
What is real is the people who love you, the worlds you live in (inner and outer) and the powers you have to take the limiters off and identify who you’re willing to be for the rest of your life.
What I’ve learned
The bigger picture
A lot has been frustrating me lately. This week in particular. I’m juggling a lot of work at the moment. And sometimes, it feels as though I’m being asked to run, carry multiple lit torches, and juggle them at the same time. It sounds awfully pointless. But it teaches me this: even when the things you do feel, look and are sometimes stupid—the bigger picture can clear everything up, the same way it opened my eyes to seeing everything I get to learn and take away from everything I do.
Hard work ≠ value
A lot of things in life are hard. But just because you are giving a great effort does not mean you are working towards a bigger result. It’s important not to confuse the two.
Remember what you control
A reminder I need more often:
There are many situations you do not control, but you often contribute to them.
You cannot control the rain, but you control what you wear.
You cannot control your feelings, but you can control your reaction.
You cannot control others, but you can control your response.
One Question for You
What self-care habit could you add to your life?
Thank you for reading.
I appreciate you all, as always.
PS: there was a Substack error with this edition as it did not send at the usual time. Even though I scheduled it. Sorry.