greatness

greatness is an acquisition of status by the people who have contributed to an organization, group, or purpose that is greater than themselves

In my Facebook group, Adventures with Amina, each month I take on a different theme.  It can be a book, a new concept to learn, or a way to be.  This month, I have decided on the theme Greatness.  This word has been in my environment for quite some time in many forms.  However, the form that first pops to mind when I hear the word Greatness is from a set of children's books called Timmy Failure by Stephen Pastis. In these books, the main character, Timmy, is the head of a detective agency and believes he is pretty amazing, and yet, makes a number of pretty obvious mistakes.  However, Timmy, with his ever failing belief in himself, always ends up on top at the end.  And, to me, this exemplifies greatness.  Because, if we all knew exactly how to be great, we would all be doing it every moment of every day.  It is in taking a step into the unknown and trying something, believing in yourself when the evidence would say otherwise, that is true greatness.

Greatness has two components to it, the belief and the action.  Let’s take a look at each of these.

Believing in Your Greatness

This is the key step to overcome to truly step into our greatness, comfort believing we are great.  While the ego could have a field day with this, this is a different type of belief all together.  The belief comes from the fact that each of us understands that we have within us a special skill and talent that contributes to the overall betterment of the world.  This greatness is not about believing that you are better than someone else, but rather believing that what you have, your unique life experiences (and what they taught you), your unique skills and abilities, were all perfectly crafted so that you may be of greater service to the whole.  The belief in your own personal greatness is not that you are greater than another, nor, is it that you are less great than another.  It is like two athletes on the court – the recognition that they are both great athletes in different ways.  There is a respect for all of the others on earth, because you can see they have their own greatness, as you have yours, and that the two, even if they seem similar, are their own unique thing.  When you are asked to believe in your greatness, what you are really being asked, is to respond to the call to do good in the world with the skills you have.  It is not about you, but about what you can bring to a situation.

Acting from Your Greatness

The second component is taking action from a place of Greatness.  Think of an area in your life where you are highly confident in your skills and abilities.  Maybe you are confident in your ability to manage money, make friends, host a party, play a sport, sing, dance, parent, paint, draw, etc.  Think of that area.  How do you show up in that area of your life?  Do you show up with confidence, with ease, with grace?  You are kind to others who are not “as good” in this area, because you know without a doubt, that you are “good” in this area.

When you act from a place of Greatness, you are acting from a place within you that understands that you are only a conduit of something for the greatest good of all.  Meaning, you are only there to do your best, and you know, that by doing your best, the whole is lifted.  In the previous example, one of the places I am highly confident is in dancing.  I am by no means one of the best dancers in the world, or even “very good”.  But, I am good and I know it.  One of the ways this shows up is that I am often times one of the first people out on the dance floor.  I can get the dance portion of the party started because of my personal belief in my skillset. 

With greatness, you do not have to be the BEST dancer… that is actually not what it is about at all.  You just have to be the most convicted in your desire to be of service.  If you have studied success, you will see that is often not the “best” people that are successful, but those that are willing to do what it takes to move forward.  That is greatness.  For most of us, there will be someone who can do it better than you in a specific area of your life.  One of the mistakes we make as humans is that we compare each one of our skills to a different person.  Jan is a better dance than me.  Joe is better at finances than me.  Pedro has a better family life than me.  What we forget often, is that no one else is YOU! And, that comparing 10 people to different aspects of yourself is so unfair and so unkind to yourself.

How will you step more into your Greatness this month?  How will you remind yourself who you really are and why you are here?  How will you show up more authentically and more fully as yourself?

I hope you join us in Adventures with Amina this month as we, collectively, step into our Greatness!