Dare you walk your path?

Are you living your unique piece of the Cosmic puzzle?

After I posted the video of my 26 September speech at Op Hodenpijl, several people expressed their ‘disappointment’ of not understanding Dutch. So, please find below the translated transcript of the speech.

Introduction by Frank Ruesink:
We’re going to the last one.
I’m going to start the music, and then Monique will come forward in a moment.
And I hope that when she steps forward, you’ll all applaud her very loudly.
I’m thrilled she’s the last speaker, because for me, she symbolizes something we all carry within us.
That is, you can feel a formlessness within yourself and transform it into form.
So, everything originates from formlessness, even a child, and ultimately it will become a beautiful form.

So enjoy the last speaker, Monique, in a moment.
I’ll start the music first, and then she’ll come forward shortly.

Knock down the prison walls
Burn down the House of War
Hear all the people calling
Heaven’s voice in Babylon saying
Aren’t you meant to fly?
Sing your song and touch the sky
Aren’t you meant to fly?
Or do you want to wait until you die?

We chain ourselves
To free ourselves
We drown ourselves
To crown ourselves
Reveal ourselves
To be ourselves
We lose ourselves
To find ourselves
Aren’t you meant to fly?
Sing your song and touch the sky
Aren’t you meant to fly?
Or do you want to wait until you die?

Fly High
You’ll get there in time
You’re not alone in this battlefield
That’s life
You’ll fall and you’ll rise
Take a break from the spinning wheel
Fly high
When it’s cold in the night
I will call on a Army of Love
That’s life
Hold on and try
Your faith will tame this beast.

Knock down the closing walls
Lets build a House of Love
Hear all the people calling
Heaven’s voice in Babylon
Saying aren’t you meant to fly?
Sing your song and touch the sky
Aren’t you meant to fly?
Or do you want to wait until you die?

We chase ourselves
To catch ourselves
We hurt ourselves
To heal ourselves
Accept ourselves
Ignore ourselves
We blind ourselves
To see ourselves
Aren’t you meant to fly?
Sing your song and touch the sky
Aren’t you meant to fly?
Or do you want to wait until you die?

Yes, this beautiful song by The Wanderer, who —and I happened to see this only yesterday— will also be standing on this stage this month or next month, is an invitation:
Do you dare to spread your wings?
And that question, “Do you dare?” is written very large here.
I had submitted the slide to Frank, and a day or two later I saw the program.
And it grew very silent inside me.
Because, who am I to stand on this stage after a speaker like Mordechai [Krispijn], who just delivered a fiery speech?

So, before I could ask you the question “Do you dare?”, I had to ask myself.
And there was a very long silence inside me.
My mind said, well, I can still ask Frank if he can change the program a bit.
But deep in my heart I also knew, no, everything happens for a reason.

And so I stand here, after Mordecai.
With a pounding heart.
In high heels.
After twenty years without heels.
And my question is: Do you dare to walk your path?
Do you dare to be completely yourself?
That authenticity Kim [Hartveld] was talking about.
Do you dare to shine your light?
Do you dare to be your unique piece of a puzzle?
The puzzle that we all complete together.
We don’t have to be anyone other than ourselves.
And we don’t have to do anything else than walk our path.
Frank does it, Mordechai does it, each of us does it.
Today, ten of us stood here on stage.
Or actually, twelve of us, counting Frank and Loes [Ruesink] as well.
And we all shared a piece of ourselves.
Of our unique path here [on the planet].
A path of healing.
A path of horse welfare.
A path of hiking. How can I walk my way back to myself?
And each of us has our own unique contribution to make.

Do you embrace your part?
Or are you secretly still avoiding it?
Do you think, well, I can wait until those men have restricted things.
I can wait until someone else has done the dirty work.
I’m too busy.
I’m a mother.
I’m a working woman.
I’m the breadwinner.
It doesn’t matter.
We can all come up with tons of excuses.
Excuses that are perfectly valid, too, because, well, money has to be earned.

But do we dare to truly be our own piece of the puzzle?
Because only when we are each our own unique piece can we complete a puzzle.

I chose to be my unique self.
That also often means that people look at me like, “Yeah, she’s pretty sweet, but I don’t get it.”
And that wasn’t always easy in the beginning.
Because then I’d be persuaded to join in.
To follow the path that was generally accepted.
But that path didn’t suit me at all.
That path led to me driving home at the end of the [work] day, knowing that everyone was happy except me.
But yes, I had done what was expected of me.

And then came the day when I thought, I’m done with this.
And I literally quit my job, sold my house, and traveled the world for years.
And every now and then someone would say, wouldn’t it be better to just buy a house with that money?
Well, that might have been possible.
It made perfect sense, but it wasn’t the right thing for me.

And so I still live a life that makes some say, “If everyone were to do that, it might be a complete mess.”
Or maybe not.
Because imagine if we all followed our own path…
Suppose we all lived from our hearts…
Would the world be a complete mess?
Or would it be a beautiful world?

I choose to be my unique puzzle piece, with all the colors, from white to black and everything in between.
With its easy moments, but also with its difficult ones.
Because let’s face it, following your own path and doing things others consider abnormal is something you have to stand by.
You have to say yes to it, time and again.
And that’s the path of least resistance.

The path of least resistance doesn’t mean that challenges won’t come your way.
The path of least resistance also comes with challenges.
Those are our lessons.
Those are our moments of growth.
And if we avoid them, they’ll come back at some point.

I like to face those moments head-on.
I like to take the shortest route.
If that’s my destination, I like to go straight for it.
And it sometimes means I’ll wait a while at the destination for the others, who are happily taking a detour, go visit someone or gaining experiences.
And that’s fine.
Everyone has their own path.

And then the question is, are you triggered?
Does it stir something inside of you?
Do you know you can go faster?
Do you know you’re avoiding things?
Is that wrong? No.
At the same time, as long as we slow down our own progress, we also slow down the progress of the collective.
In effect, we are restricting, but we are restricting progress.
And I don’t think we want that.
I don’t want it.
I choose for myself to fulfill my role.

I’d like to conclude —it’s been a long day, so I’ll keep it short— with a passage from Nelson Mandela’s freedom speech.
I have a Dutch version here.
It’s a text by Marianne Williamson.
I suspect many people in the audience are familiar with it.

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 and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking, so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
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 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.

Thank you.

Frank Ruesink:
Thanks so much, Monique.
I’d still like a quick explanation from you about that beautiful background slide of the pyramids.
Could you say something about it?
You love so many things, but one thing you love is Egypt, and I’d like to hear from you about your love for Egypt.

Yes, that’s a soul level love, Frank.
Yes, Egypt.
I sometimes say Egypt is my second home, but I think Egypt is actually my first home.
And when I’m in Egypt, I feel more alive than anywhere else in the world.
Yes.

Frank Ruesink:
Beautiful.

And the great thing is, anyone who dares can join me in November.
I have a trip planned.
Not just planned.
It’s organized and will go ahead.
And there are still a few spots available.
In Egypt we go first into the desert and then into ancient Egypt.
And I also have a retreat planned in Egypt, where I’ll take people to the beautiful Siwa Oasis; a place of healing.
It’s truly a magical place.
If you dare, please speak to me.

Frank Ruesink:
Thank you, Monique.
Applause please.

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For extensive information about the upcoming tour and retreat and available spots, email me at mo@moniqueteggelove.com.

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To watch the video of my 26 September speech:

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photo credits and sincere thanks go to: Steve Tjin - Souldsign