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. 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. It’s not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights 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

The fear of success is a theme which resonates with me. I know how to live small. I wish to live large and I tell myself, “Be careful, be very careful, do not fail! You are a fool to think you can achieve these things! What will happen to you, your sense of self and your reputation if/when your plan fails?”

Fear is the great destroyer of dreams and desires when it is accepted as truth. Fear when accepted as truth and used to remain frozen and unwilling to take the risks which might create the success personally and professionally that I desire.

I believe that life is a dynamic experience rather than a static experience when life is lived and experienced fully. Change brings fear and it also brings the possibility of happiness and fulfilled dreams. The poet once said, “It is better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all.” It is better to have pursued dreams, followed our bliss, as Joseph Campbell said and see where love of life will take us on this journey through the world than never to have really lived at all.

I hope for a happy journey! As Roy Rogers used to sing, “Happy Trails To You!”

Gene