By Liese Gardner

Oprah got it right by calling the epiphanies we experience in life "aha moments." Because if she called them what they really are -- such as "moments that rocked my world," or "ideas that made me rethink everything I know about myself" -- she'd scare off half her viewers from ever seeking change.

And yet, even that which rocks our world doesn't necessarily bring change to us overnight. The "aha moments" are really flashes of lightning that hit our hearts and minds then work their way through our entire system until real change actually occurs.

For me that lightning bolt hit on a random Tuesday night years ago when several friends took me to see Marianne Williamson speak. This was at the height of the AIDS epidemic and she had been working with people infected with HIV, holding workshops on The Course in Miracles (a method for choosing love over fear) and building a reputation not as a healer, but as a guide for people moving in that direction.

I came to the lecture with no expectations. I left reeling with thoughts and emotions. I felt alive and although I wasn't sure HOW to do it, I knew I COULD create the change in my life for which I longed. But in the end it wasn't my "life" that changed. It was me. And that one very simple thought is at the crux of Williamson's teachings.

External forces don't change. How we perceive them and react to them does. Therein lies the miracle.

I was fortunate enough to hear Wiliamson speak many more times after that up until 1994 when she moved away from Los Angeles. Each time she amazed me with her insight and her ability to start with one small idea, take it to a global, then cosmic level and finally circle back to the original thought perfectly and without notes. I have never seen a better speaker. But it wasn't her technique; it was her energy and her message.

Her message was -- and is -- extremely powerful. So much so that many people have attributed the well-known quote "Your playing small does not serve the world" to Nelson Mandela. In actuality, it is a quote from Return to Love, the first of many of Williamson's books to become a New York Times bestseller. Here is the full quote, the perfect sentiment for this time of year. An inspiration and a guide for how to refuel after we empty our minds of old thoughts and perceptions that hold us back.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is 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 does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that 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 are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

 -- Marianne Williamson, Return to Love

A GIFT FOR YOU!

In the spirit of the holidays I would love to give a copy of Return to Love to a reader of Fuel: Passions That Drive Us. Just leave a comment here over the holiday season and I'll randomly draw a name from those comments on January 5. If you don't want to, or can't, leave your name with an e-mail link so I can get in touch with you, just check back on the 5th. I'll post the name of the winner then and you can get in touch with me.

Update on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 by Mecca

A Return to Love Giveway Results

A random drawing of names this morning decided the results of the giveaway... Desiree Patterson was the winner of a copy of Return to Love. Congratulations!

Thank you to everyone for your wonderful comments and for reading Fuel.

Have a wonderful, warm, inspired and passionate New Year!

Liese