You have a light inside of you that shines so brightly that it makes me catch my breath. There are times that you are very aware of your light and you hold it high like a beacon for everyone to see. You stand tall and you just shine.

Other times, you try to cover it up so you can just blend in and not stand out.

Please don’t dim your light.

Don’t dim it to fit in. Don’t dim it because someone thinks it’s silly. And don’t ever, ever dim it because someone tells you that your light isn’t as bright as you know it is.

Walt Disney was fired from the Kansas City Star because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” Oprah Winfrey was fired because she was “too emotionally invested in her stories.” Lucille Ball was urged to try another profession because she was a failed actress. Thomas Edison’s teachers told him he was “too stupid to learn anything.”

When you were born, a light was placed inside of you and as you grow older, you will choose whether you want to turn the light down or light it up like a bonfire.

I hope you choose the latter. I hope you choose to shine.

Image by
Xan Griffin

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