I’ve always been a huge fan of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I’ve been a fan of his courage, particularly. It takes a lot of courage to stand up to a culture that declares you “less than” the dominant group. And it takes even more to stand up to a person who is so threatened by what you say that he or she wants to kill you. Literally to silence your truth by killing you.
This week in the U.S., we celebrated Dr. King’s birthday with the national holiday on Monday the 21st. Traditionally, the presidential inauguration occurs on the 20th, and this year we witnessed an amazing merging of the celebration of the Civil Rights leader with that of the second inauguration of our nation’s first African-American president.
To say that it gave me chills to have Obama sworn in on the Lincoln AND the King Bibles, standing where Dr. King stood to deliver his “I Have a Dream” speech would be a complete understatement. It was pure, unadulterated JOY and the sense that something huge and heavy had just been released. I kept bursting into happy, relieved tears all day long…
Here’s one of my favorite quotes by Dr. King. If you’ve been reading this newsletter for a while, or following me on FB, you’ve probably heard me say that if you substitute the more generalizable word “fear” for his word “hatred” you’ll get exactly what I see in the Records all the time.
Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life;
love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.
Think about when you’ve been in fear (this includes anxiety, doubt, judgment, jealousy, anger, struggle, overwhelm, depression, etc., as well as hatred). Just take a minute to go there. Now think about the ways you were paralyzed. Could you move forward? Not even baby steps, until you changed your energy to one in the Love end of the spectrum.
(As a refresher, Love energies include, but aren’t limited to: truth, gratitude, vision, laughter, luck, abundance, trust, tolerance, joy, wisdom, generosity, courage, strength, openness, acceptance, clarity, and surrender.)
When you were in fear, could you see your way out?
Did you have any clarity?
Until you shift your energy out of the fear zone (using one of the tools I teach in my Shine Your Light program), you’re going to continue struggling in the dark.
I know that if you’re reading this, you’ve embraced the Love (=Light) side of the spectrum. And I also know that it’s easy to fall back into fear, especially when you’re going out on a limb and taking a big risk.
I’m taking this opportunity to remind you that whatever risk you take in your business or your relationships, it’s probably not as risky as it was for Martin Luther King to speak his truth. We all know that he paid for it with his life.
You won’t, of course, but that doesn’t make it much less scary. Just keep breathing, connecting with Source for answers and support, and know that the Universe has your back. Always.
Leave a comment about the big gambles you’ve taken that have paid off in spades. Or let me know what you’re about to embark on so that I can hold space for your success. Always.
