Thursday, March 8, 2007

Unleash Your Potential and Achieve Greatness!

Is your life full of anxiety, fear and worry? If that’s the case, your life is not fulfilled. Moreover, a life full of negativity is an empty life – empty of peace, joy and excitement. And until your life is fulfilled, it is painful. This pain is trying to tell us something. It’s yelling, “Realize your potential and grow into greatness.” It’s as if we don’t hear. But the truth is, we don’t listen. We are too busy trying to cope with the complexities of life; we have forgotten our true nature.

Whoever we are, whether we are employed or unemployed, rich or poor, male or female, in a prison or in a hospital bed, we all carry within us seeds of greatness. These are nothing more than potential, unless they are nourished by soil and nurtured by the sun. The same goes with our potential, it is only after we are brought into the light of awareness, nurtured by positive thoughts that we can develop potential with a deep inner fire within us. It’s about knowing you can be great when as of now you’re small. It’s about knowing you can be worthy and not worthless.

To realize your potential means to realize what it is you can do, and do it. When you realize what your potential is you know which way to aim your life. I think people set goals they can achieve to encourage themselves to continue doing things in their lives. To realize your potential doesn't mean that you will necessary reach it, because there is always something else that increases it.

So if we’re living unfulfilled lives, it’s time to awaken to our seeds of greatness. When we realize that deep within is greatness aching to be expressed, we become inspired. When inspired, we act with greatness. Finally, when we act with greatness, we become great.

You can unlock your inner potential only when you’re doing something that you really love to do. You can fulfill your innermost aspirations only when you’re doing something that interests you, something that holds your attention, and something in which you can become completely absorbed.

And this is the key to unlocking the giant within. You must dream big and do what you love to do. You must decide what’s right for you, what will make you happiest, before you decide what’s possible. You must set ideal standards and goals and results as your aim and then determine how to accomplish them.

One way of achieving greatness is to emulate people you admire. Not because of egoism, but because of the innate desire to be and do one’s best. Why not add greatness of character to our lives? For when we do so, we add meaning.

Great people are significant. We need them to become great ourselves. They encourage us, lead us to the right direction and show the possibilities. They remind us that we can make our lives sublime. If you find it difficult to remember the seeds of greatness that live within you, read the biographies of great people. Their stories will stir your heart and launch action. But be careful because we tend to read, watch, and listen without digesting the information we’re exposed to. To unlock the power of knowledge, we must apply what we learn. Here’s a good habit to get into, which will help you to focus on applying what you learn. Mainly, whenever you learn something of value, immediately ask yourself, "How can I apply this to my life? When should I apply it? Where should I use this? Why should I use it?" Use the power of questions to ignite the potential locked in the knowledge you gain.

Speaking of knowledge, one important thing to note is that the opportunity for greatness is often missed. What happens if we lose our job, have a serious accident, or get gravely ill? If we view these events as disasters, we grow anxious, stressful, and fearful. Yet, those who see the same events as opportunities to rise to the greatness thrust upon them manage to call up courage, faith, and perseverance. Isn’t the disaster we’re facing really a mountain waiting to be scaled? How can we rise to greatness without scaling mountains? If we study the lives of great men and women carefully and unemotionally we find that, invariably, greatness was developed, tested and revealed through the darker periods of their lives.

Thus, my call to you is to do what has been effective throughout history and inculcate this optimism in your life - this optimism that would unleash the seeds of greatness inside you.

If you’d ask, "What is the meaning of life?" In my opinion it is to make the world more hospitable, to improve it. Shouldn’t our legacy of greatness be a trail of good works? It’s not what you take in this world; rather, it is what you leave behind that defines greatness.

Don’t underestimate the potency of your actions. Very few among the world’s population have the power to change the course of history; nevertheless, our works as good people accumulate and help weave this generation we live in. We can make a difference. Lastly, there is a loftier ambition than merely to stand high in this world, it is to stoop down and lift mankind a little higher.

Shhh! Be still for a moment and listen. Can you hear it? It’s the call to greatness! How will you respond?