Personally, I have one favorite quote that reminds me to shine brightly and unapologetically.

It’s this:

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 doesn’t serve the world. There’s 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’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

~ Marianne Williamson.

We begin life as small children who question less about our own self-worth than we do simply enjoying the experimentation and understanding of our bodies and selves.

And then it all changes.

Incrementally—or sometimes after one, scarring blow—our fragile, childlike confidence often gets crushed. If we’re lucky, we recover and if we’re not we live the rest of our lives searching for a false perfection that doesn’t exist because we’re not honoring the perfection that we’re already living within.

“When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability…To be alive is to be vulnerable.” ~ Madeleine L’Engle

We are all amazing in our own ways.

We all have our own gifts to offer up to the world and the world needs people who are resilient and empowered enough to share them—even after repeated failings.

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ~ Howard Thurman.

So I’ve decided that I want to share with you a few great quotes that always remind me to pick myself back up, dust myself off…and keep on truckin.’

• “If I were to tell you that your life is already perfect, whole, and complete just as it is, you would think I was crazy. Nobody believes his or her life is perfect. And yet there is something within each of us that basically knows we are boundless, limitless.” ~ Joko Beck.

• “One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

• “Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” ~ A.A. Milne

• “Master your instrument, master the music, and then forget all that…and just play.”              ~ Charlie Parker

• “Love isn’t finding a perfect person. It’s seeing an imperfect person perfectly.” ~ Sam Keen

• “Beauty is truth’s smile when she beholds her own face in a perfect mirror.” ~ Rabindranath Tagore

• “The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition.” ~ Carl Sagan

• “Tell me I’m clever, Tell me I’m kind, Tell me I’m talented, Tell me I’m cute, Tell me I’m sensitive, Graceful and wise, Tell me I’m perfect—but tell me the truth.” ~ Shel Silverstein

• “If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be.” ~ Yogi Berra

• “If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: ‘He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned.’ “ ~ Epictetus

And, finally, one last quote for the other writers out there who might be reading this and needing an extra dose of an inspirational reminder to keep on writing regardless of your fears of your worth:

 “If I waited for perfection… I would never write a word.” ~ Margaret Atwood

Remember, too, that perfection is not a myth.

No, perhaps the real interest should be in how we define perfection, or flawlessness, in the first place.

Because your flaws are perfect.

And we are all perfectly flawed.

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Ed: Sara Crolick