How Big

At the dinner table the other day, Maren announced (after a few minutes of quiet contemplation, as she is apt to do), "We don't know how big we are."

Her stand-alone statement struck me as a simpler version of a quote Nelson Mandela used in his inaugural speech:

Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,
but that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and 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 were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

--Marianne Williamson

This realization is accompanied by the startling reality that I may not know what greatness (or "big-ness") really is. Like most of us, my own perspective of myself is that I am unremarkable, but I don't really know what my impact has been or will be on other people. It is sobering to think that not only am I unaware of the positive impact I've had, I am also probably unaware of hurt I have caused. Maren's pronouncement was a reminder to live fully myself and treat each moment and each person with sacred respect.