Magnificence Brilliance

When you hear the right message at the right time, amazing things happen.

While I was at my favorite spa last December, the attendant fanned out a deck of spa cards before me. I closed my eyes, ran my fingers over the deck and pinched the corner of a card tucked under some cards towards the middle of the deck. Before I could look at it, I handed the card to the attendant who read:

Magnificence. Own your magnificence. The world needs your brilliance and grace.

Time stopped. The wind left my lungs. My eyes grew wide. And then a nervous smile stretched across my face.

My attendant’s face softened as she said, “This a very good card. Take it home with you.”

This was a message I needed to hear. It was a message I was finally ready to hear.

When I got home, I tucked the card into the corner of my bathroom mirror. I’ve read that card at least once and often multiple times every day for the last year.

If it hadn’t been for that card . . .

Would I have lived the same old story that I’d been living for the last several years?

Would I have pursued my dream since college of owning my own business?

Would I have ever met the amazing . . . I mean amazing . . . people I’ve met this year who inspire and awe me with their own magnificence and brilliance?

And the big one . . . would I have touched, changed, helped or improved anyone’s life?

Before that card landed in my hand, I seriously felt like my work didn’t matter. I felt like people didn’t get me. I felt like people didn’t notice or listen. And I feared the reason people just didn’t seem to care all that much about what I had to say (with the exception of my husband, kids and handful of family members) was because I had nothing worthy to share.

If you are reading this right now and you know this feeling, listen up. It is NOT true. If you are uncertain that you have a message worth sharing, I want you to print out a picture of this spa card and tape it on your mirror – or wherever you’re going to see it every day. Read it out loud. Feel it. Believe it.

Then be it.

The stories we tell ourselves about how we are not worthy can have a horrifying hold on us. They had an ugly, destructive hold on me for many years. That spa card – that simple, yet powerful message that I was finally open to receiving – allowed me to understand that those stories are overwhelmingly false.

I’m sharing this story because I know I’m not alone. Those negative feelings aren’t unique to me. I’m sharing this story because, when you are ready and open, a tiny whisper can change the course of your life. A small shift can move you from fearful to unstoppable and I want to see that for you in 2014.

Print out these pictures. Read this card every day. Read it especially on those days when you’re feeling doubtful, low or worthless. Read it out loud. Read it again (out loud). Read it until you really hear the strength and conviction in your voice.

Then remember this.

You matter.

You are worthy.

You have something special to give.

We need you.

And the longer you hoard your magnificence, the longer we suffer.

As we turn the page on a new year, I enter it not with vapid resolutions but with the single, clear intention of inspiring you to no longer let fear and doubt hold you back.

Listen for the stories and messages meant for you, and know that someone else out there is waiting to hear your story and message too.

Wishing you a brilliant & magnificent new year!

I want to hear your stories of triumphs – big and small – in 2014. Will you share them with me and this community in the comments below? What will you do/have you done to make this year your best one yet?

 

4 Comments

  1. Deb Coman on January 2, 2014 at 6:44 pm

    Beautiful, Gayle! Straight from the heart and meaningful to so many. I’m so glad that card found you. Glad for you and glad for me and for all the other people whose lives you’ve touched.

    • storystylist on January 3, 2014 at 2:41 pm

      Thanks Deb. One of my favorite things to do around new year’s is to reflect back over the year and really focus on the positive changes that have occurred. I feel blessed for all the great people (like you) and opportunities that have come into my life.

  2. Michelle Barry Franco on January 6, 2014 at 3:52 pm

    I love this story of that divine timing message – Own Your Magnificence. You hearing it with such certainty, and then heeding it with such conviction. Even more, I’m grateful for it because it likely has a lot to do with me learning that you and your beautiful work exist. One of the most important things I did in 2013 to set myself up for a magnificent 2014 is dig into and reveal my story (stories) with you, Gayle. And now I am ready to Take a Stand in my own message in 2014 (which also happens to be my theme for the year). Happy New Year to you!

    • storystylist on January 6, 2014 at 4:02 pm

      I’m also so grateful for hearing the call and actually doing something about it Michelle. I’m looking forward to hearing more stories from you and seeing how those stories inspire others to take a stand for their work. I am forever in awe of the effects, and ripple effects, stories can have on people. When a great communicator like you taps into the power of story, that’s when mountains move. Happy new year!

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