Let Your Light Shine:
Becoming Who You Were Created to Be

by Rev. Sheri Spiritual teacher, writer, and founder of Angel Messenger

 

Have you ever caught yourself becoming a slightly different version of yourself depending on who you’re with?

You hold back what you really think.

You don’t mention something you love because you’re afraid someone will think it’s strange.

You say yes when you want to say no.

You make yourself smaller so someone else doesn’t feel uncomfortable.

You hide your gifts because you’re afraid of being judged.

Little by little, you begin adjusting yourself to fit into the spaces other people have created for you.

And somewhere along the way, you can lose sight of who you actually are.

You were not created to become whatever version of yourself makes everyone else comfortable.

You were created to shine.

What Does It Mean to Let Your Light Shine?

Jesus said:

“Ye are the light of the world.” — Matthew 5:14

A few verses later, He tells us to let that light shine.

I don’t believe letting your light shine means demanding attention or trying to prove that you’re special.

Quite the opposite.

Our light shines through the way we live.

It is in our compassion.

Our kindness.

Our courage.

Our creativity.

Our willingness to help someone.

Our ability to speak truth with love.

Our gifts.

Our faith.

Our willingness to stand beside someone who feels alone.

Our determination to keep loving in a world that sometimes gives us plenty of reasons not to.

When we allow those things to come through us, we become little points of light in someone else’s darkness.

You Don’t Have to Be Everyone’s Version of You

One of the hardest lessons many of us eventually learn is that we cannot control how other people see us.

Someone may misunderstand you.

Someone may not like you.

Someone may disagree with you.

Someone may decide that the version of you they preferred was the one who never said no.

That can hurt.

Especially when you’ve spent much of your life trying to keep everyone happy.

People-pleasing can look like kindness from the outside, but they aren’t always the same thing.

Kindness comes from love.

People-pleasing often comes from fear.

If I say no, will they be angry?

If I tell them what I really think, will they reject me?

If I stop doing everything they expect of me, will they still love me?

Those are difficult questions.

But constantly abandoning yourself to avoid someone else’s disappointment comes at a cost.

Eventually, you may realize that everyone else has been given permission to have needs, boundaries, opinions, and preferences except you.

You are allowed to have them too.

Being Yourself Doesn’t Mean Refusing to Grow

There is another side to authenticity that I think is important.

“I’m just being myself” should never become an excuse for cruelty, selfishness, or refusing to examine our own behavior.

We are all works in progress.

There will be times when someone points out something we genuinely need to hear.

There will be apologies we need to make.

Habits we need to change.

Lessons we need to learn.

Parts of ourselves that need healing.

Growth doesn’t make you less authentic.

Sometimes growth brings you closer to who you were always meant to become.

The question is why you’re changing.

Are you changing because wisdom, experience, love, or the Divine is calling you toward something better?

Or are you changing because you’re afraid you won’t be accepted unless you become what someone else wants?

Those are very different things.

Stop Making Yourself Smaller

Sometimes we don’t completely hide who we are.

We simply turn down the brightness.

We don’t talk about our accomplishments because someone might think we’re bragging.

We don’t share our creativity because someone might criticize it.

We don’t pursue an opportunity because we’re afraid we’ll fail.

We don’t speak about what we believe because someone might disagree.

We don’t set a boundary because someone might call us difficult.

We don’t allow ourselves to dream too big because someone once convinced us that we weren’t capable.

Eventually, shrinking can become a habit.

So ask yourself:

Where have I been making myself smaller?

Maybe there’s a part of you that has been waiting for permission to exist fully.

You don’t need everyone’s permission.

Your Gifts Were Given for a Reason

Every person has something they bring into this world.

Maybe you’re creative.

Maybe you’re compassionate.

Maybe you’re good at listening.

Maybe you make people laugh.

Maybe you notice the person everyone else overlooks.

Maybe you’re a wonderful parent, teacher, artist, caregiver, friend, leader, healer, builder, organizer, cook, writer, musician, or problem-solver.

Maybe you haven’t discovered your gift yet.

That’s okay too.

Your gift doesn’t have to make you famous.

It doesn’t have to become a career.

It doesn’t have to impress anyone.

Sometimes a person’s greatest gift is simply the way other people feel when they’re around them.

Whatever your light looks like, don’t dismiss it because it doesn’t look like someone else’s.

A candle doesn’t need to become the sun to bring light into a dark room.

You Can Shine Quietly

There is a misconception that letting your light shine requires becoming louder.

It doesn’t.

Some lights are quiet.

Some people change lives without ever standing on a stage.

They check on the lonely person.

They bring dinner when someone is sick.

They pray.

They listen.

They encourage.

They create.

They raise compassionate children.

They care for animals.

They speak up when someone is being mistreated.

They give when they can.

They make someone laugh on a terrible day.

They leave people feeling a little more loved than they did before.

Never underestimate quiet light.

Not Everyone Will Understand Your Light

The more authentically you live, the more likely it becomes that someone will misunderstand you.

That doesn’t automatically mean you’re doing something wrong.

Neither does it automatically mean they’re wrong.

Sometimes two good people simply see the world differently.

You don’t have to turn every disagreement into a battle.

You can listen.

You can consider whether there is something useful in what another person is saying.

You can change your mind when new information gives you a reason to.

And you can also decide, respectfully:

This is still who I am.

You don’t need unanimous approval to live your life.

Let Your Light Help Someone Else Find Theirs

Perhaps one of the most beautiful things about allowing ourselves to shine is that it gives other people permission to do the same.

When you stop apologizing for being creative, someone else may pick up the paintbrush they put down years ago.

When you establish a healthy boundary, someone watching may realize they’re allowed to have boundaries too.

When you talk honestly about something you’ve survived, another person may realize they aren’t alone.

When you show kindness in a place where kindness is unusual, someone else may choose kindness too.

Light has a way of spreading.

Not because we force it onto anyone.

Simply because we allow it to be seen.

A Prayer for the Courage to Shine

Divine, thank You for creating me as I am and for continuing to guide who I am becoming.

Help me recognize the gifts You have placed within me.

Give me courage to use them.

Show me where I have made myself smaller because I was afraid of judgment, rejection, or misunderstanding.

Help me release the need to be everything everyone expects me to be.

At the same time, keep my heart open to growth.

Give me humility when I need to listen, courage when I need to speak, wisdom when I need to change, and strength when I need to stand firm.

May my light never be used to diminish another person’s.

Instead, let the way I live encourage others to recognize the light within themselves.

Help me be a source of compassion, truth, kindness, courage, and love wherever You place me.

And when I am tempted to hide who You created me to be, remind me:

I was not created to live beneath a bushel.

I was created to shine.

Bless it be. Amen.

Be True to Who You Are

You don’t have to become louder to let your light shine.

You don’t have to become more impressive.

You don’t have to convince everyone to understand you.

And you certainly don’t have to be perfect.

Be willing to grow.

Be willing to learn.

Be willing to apologize.

Be willing to change when change is needed.

But don’t spend your life trying to become someone else simply so everyone around you will approve.

There is only one you.

Let your compassion show.

Let your creativity show.

Let your faith show.

Let your weirdness show.

Let your kindness show.

Let your courage show.

Let your love show.

Stop hiding the parts of yourself the Divine never asked you to hide.

Let your soul shine.

Peace, love, and grace,

Rev. Sheri