I’ve often found that I am more afraid of success than failure.With failure, you know what comes next: You change something and try again, or you move on. With success, you might not know what to do next. The success may have come at too high a cost. People will expect more of you, and you will expect more of you. I think what scares me the most about success is that it puts me firmly on one path: I’m good at this, I can succeed in it, and therefore, it is what I’ll do, what I’ll be.
But being afraid of my own success ensures that I never reach my potential. Author Maryanne Williamson said, “It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. When we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
I am done being frightened of my light.
To achieve a dream, you must first recognize it: What is it you want to be? What do you dream? Look it in the face. Do not be afraid of it. Own it. Will it.
Eli Winkelman founded Challah for Hunger as a student at Scripps College. www.challahforhunger.org
