Last month, I found myself on an early morning flight. 5 am. Which meant being at the airport by 4 am.
Ok, that’s early! (And no, that’s not what I’m talking about regarding courage. Read on, please…)
When the plane boarded and took off, the pilot turned off all the interior lights. It was dark.
And I was awake. Wide awake. And I wanted to work.
But working meant turning on a light. And turning on a light meant disturbing other people.
For the next 10 minutes, I agonized over whether I should turn on my light.
I thought,
“If I turn on my light, people will get mad at me. They’re trying to sleep. What if I’m the only one with my light turned on? I can’t turn it on; my seatmate is asleep. I should just be nice and keep it off.”
On and on it went inside my head.
It was like I had two people whispering in my ear because the other things I heard were…
“Oh, please, you can turn your light on. It’s YOUR light! That’s why they have individual lights. You don’t have to cater to everyone else in this. You can work. Just because everyone else is asleep or staying in the dark doesn’t mean you have to. Seriously, Anne, go ahead and turn it on if you want! Get some work done. Honor yourself, for goodness sake. Stop being afraid!”
(Ever have conversations like these?)
When I heard that, I finally screwed up my courage, reached up and turned on my light.
And the plane still moved forward, and nobody yelled at me (or even glared).
I pulled out my notebook and began to work. A moment later, I looked up and noticed that several other people had turned on their lights and were working.
When I turned on my light, then they realized it was ok to turn on theirs, too.
Oh, my gosh! What a powerful metaphor this was – for business and for life. It goes back to what Marianne Williamson said:
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.
~Marianne Williamson
When we stand out, when we stand up, when we live authentically, when we do business authentically, then we shine. And we give others permission to do the same.
Branding is like this. Branding your business in a powerful way allows you to stand out, to stand up … to shine. And when you do this for your business, miracles occur.
So, step up. Stand up. Turn on your light. Be visible.
Others are waiting for you. When you do this, they will have the courage to do it, too.
And isn’t that why we’re all in business?
Get going, Divine One! Your world is looking for you!
Hugs, Anne
