By Udana Power
"It’s the nature of the group to want everybody to conform. To fit in. To be safe. Status quo. “You can be wonderful… just don’t be too wonderful."
I keep forgetting that I have a Greatness Muscle. And that everybody else around me has a Greatness Muscle. And that this adventure called life is about giving birth to myself and exercising my Greatness Muscle. Whatever that is. And, as a result, out of all the moosh of living-ness I emerge as the wonderful, unexpected person that I really am… rather than the person that I wanted to be, or think I should be, or would be if only something-or-other.
So… this Greatness Muscle… What in the world is it? It just popped out of my mouth one day as I was speaking to a group of 350 sixteen-year-olds… encouraging them to dream and take action… to enjoy their mistakes and design a life they really want to live. I was encouraging them to contribute to the group without being defined by the group. To live with and share with others while empowering their uniqueness. And then I found myself talking about their Greatness Muscle.
Wow. Where did that come from? I don’t know… so I just kept talking, hoping it would explain itself. I found myself saying that resistance is the way we build muscle. So when you encounter resistance in your life, don’t give up and cave in. It’s a great opportunity to flex that muscle and make it strong. That muscle will give you new definition.
We all have a Greatness Muscle. You have to experiment to find it. It has to do with expressing your Truth. Discovering that you have opinions and desires and a unique view of the world… and then standing where you are and sharing your view whole-heartedly. It’s about discovering that any so-called “mistakes” are really just Approximations on the road to your goals. It’s learning to freely approximate again and again as you create your life into the world. Then the journey becomes fun – and whatever is fun you tend to spend more time doing.
And whatever you spend more time doing, the better you do it. You get the picture. If a toddler viewed his attempts at walking to be “failures,” and got all whiny about “failing”… then how many toddlers would learn to walk? And look at how many toddlers have grown up to not only walk – but to become championship athletes and great dancers!
Success leaves clues…
Be like a young child… open to learning, discovering and “approximating.”
Which brings us back to our Greatness Muscle.
It’s the nature of the group to want everybody to conform. To fit in. To be safe. Status quo. “You can be wonderful… just don’t be too wonderful. That would make you different. Stay wonderful within this box here that I approve of.” Which basically means… stay a wonderful caterpillar… don’t become a butterfly.
Well, here’s good news: when God is blooming a garden, those flowers and vines just keep growing and growing and growing… Tomatoes don’t grow square so that they can be packaged and shipped more easily. Watermelons are what they are… delicious and juicy… no matter how much trouble the farmer has packing them into the truck.
And what does this have to do with a Greatness Muscle? Glad you asked.
YOU are delicious and juicy – just like that watermelon. The fun, outspoken, excited, passionate You who loves life as an adventure. I’m talking about the wild You who loves to dance for no reason at all. The You who sings crazy songs while washing the dishes and walking the dog. The You who speaks up when everyone else is quiet because they’re afraid to rock the boat. The You who rocks the boat because it’s fun and wakes everybody else up.
I’m talking about the You who says a cheerful “No” without feeling compelled to make excuses or give a reason. The You who says “Yes” with enthusiasm to outrageous ideas and adventures, especially when everybody else is stuck in fear.
This Greatness Muscle thrives on resistance. It pushes back the crowd-talk and leaves room for that small whisper inside to explode into song. Or poetry. Or a new invention. Or a day at the beach.
So, when you find yourself kind of cranky and squirmy… dragging through the day, feeling hemmed in and overloaded…. Stop. Look for your Greatness Muscle. Take a Time Out. Then wait for a bright idea. Something will come… and with it the strength to take action. That’s when you put that Greatness Muscle to work.
You see, that Greatness Muscle starts a whole chain of events: the more you use it, the stronger it gets, the easier it is to be the You you really are, the more you like yourself, the more fun you have, the more people love you and want to be with you, the more you love people, the more influence you have in the world, and the more your life becomes a grand adventure, and so on and on. Your life really is what you make it.
As Aristotle once said: “The things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”
Here’s to Your Greatness Muscle. And mine!
Udana Power - actress, singer, author, screenwriter - reinvented her life and is now also a successful business woman and entrepreneur. Wind down? Retiree? Age? Not in Udana's vocabulary. Her unique approach to financial freedom, personal development and anti-aging has given her the residual income, good health and free time to pursue her creative outlets. She helps women all over (and men) step into their power and live abundant and free.