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?
Here is the part of the movie with the quote.
I love the part when Laurence Fishburne asks, "Afraid of what?" and Akeelah responds, "Me." I love this part of the movie because I find it so relatable. So often I find that it's really easy to put myself down, to point out my flaws to myself (sometimes I even find ways to create "flaws" that never bothered me before), to ask myself, "Who would want to be friends with me?" During my freshman year at Wake Forest, I learned a lot about myself. Something particularly difficult for me to learn--it still is--was the knowledge that nothing truly good or fruitful comes from constantly comparing oneself to others. Teddy Roosevelt really hit the nail on the head when he said,
In my experience, it truly is. I have found that I can be truly happy only when I have accepted that I have certain gifts and other people have certain gifts--we're all different (I know, I know, this is really groundbreaking stuff that no one has ever heard before--sometimes i just gotta bring it back to the basics). But what I'm trying to say is that I truly believe that the world would be a better place if, instead of always trying to "put aside our differences," we try putting our differences together by embracing our unique gifts.
That was definitely an unintentional tangent. Focus, Sarah. You were talking about some quote from Akeelah and the Bee, remember? (Sometimes I have to talk to myself to get back on track).
Ok, back to the original focus of this post: my favorite quote. There are just so many things I love about this quote; therefore, I'm going to break it up into sections (bear with me--I'm unleashing my inner English nerd here).
"It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us."
As I reread this part of the quote, I realize how true it is for me. I feel like sometimes we are so quick to admit our flaws and our faults, yet we tend to neglect the things we like about ourselves. This past spring break, I went home with a friend from Wake along with another friend, and one night we were just sitting around talking, asking each other random questions (some silly, some deep). Eventually someone said, "Name a physical trait and a personality characteristic that you like about yourself." It took each of us a little longer to answer this one than it did some of the earlier questions (partially because I think we didn't want to appear to be bragging about ourselves, but also because rarely do we examine our own traits--both physical and personality--in a positive light). As we shared with each other, I could feel our friendship becoming stronger. It was so neat for me to see two of my best friends acknowledge some of the traits that I see in them every day, and it was empowering for me to be able to vocalize some things about myself that I actually like. I know that was kind of a cheesy story, but I really do believe that by simply expressing two things we liked about ourselves, each of us gained something valuable. All that to say, it really is important to be able to view ourselves in a positive light. Because let's be honest, the world could use a little less negativity.
"Brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous"
I can't exactly put my finger on what it is, but there is something about this string of words that I just love. I think maybe it's because they're just such positive words. I mean, who wouldn't want to be described as any of these things? I also love how there's no "and" or "or" between "talented" and "fabulous"--each of these adjectives are just strung together, like beads on a necklace. The way I understand this quote, it's like the speaker is saying that it is possible to be all four of these things--there are no limits or restrictions. I realize that I may be a little overly optimistic here, but I'd much rather look on the bright side.
"Actually"
Ok, I do realize that this might be a little bit of a stretch for those of you who don't love English as much as I do, but bear with me. (Or not--if you've made it this far in the post then kudos to you! You should celebrate with a well-deserved nap.) What I love about the use of the word "actually" here is that it quickly shifts the tone of the quote. The question asked immediately before Actually ('Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?') is so pessimistic, reflecting self doubt and a sense of hopelessness. But here comes Actually to save the day, shining its light, casting out all self consciousness and replacing it with self confidence.
Sometimes, it can be hard for us to hear the "actually." Sometimes, we get so bogged down by the struggles of life that we fail to seek its many joys. Sometimes, it might take slowing down a little bit to find our "actually," to attain that sense of empowerment, that feeling of confidence, that rush of passion for life. But when we do find it, it's so worth it.
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