Greatness

We are not merely comprised of flesh and bones, atoms and synapses. Humans are also a bundle of spiritual energy, I believe, and that energy can have larger than life impacts on others. In one study, it was found that the energy and emotion we show up with can pass through and influence others through 3 degrees of separation. In other words, our friends’, friends’, friends can be effected by the chain reaction of our energy. Emotions and energy are THAT contagious. Wild.

Our human energy is more like a nuclear reaction as opposed to a chemical reaction (Thanks, Rabbi Lapin). A nuclear reaction can release several million times more energy than its chemical counterpart. Same with humans and our ability to influence the world around us.

The problem is often, paradoxically, that we think both too big and too small. We think too big when we believe we can control others around us and change them and our world through control and manipulation. We are not gods, and while we can influence, we have little to no control over our external world. To think we can or do is an exercise in neuroticism.

We think too small when we believe we aren’t able to change or influence much, we have a victim mindset, or we play small and remain “safe.” We are capable of greatness, and playing small doesn’t serve us or or those in our sphere of influence very well at all.

Neither is the path to changing our world (however you define that) for the better. Start small – by changing yourself. If who you are is capable of influencing others greatly, than who you are had better be worthy of greatness. THAT is a long climb in and of itself. Then think big – pair those internal changes with a big dream, a clear purpose. The combination of mastery of self, and a big dream worth chasing…that’s a path to greatness.