19 Oct Sir Sapling
I get it, there are plenty of people out there who are kind, respectful, agreeable, and overall incredibly underwhelming.
We have enough people like that in this world.
In some parts of the world it’s those who are too polite to voice their opinions, or when they do, they do it in a way that is not expression from the heart, from the gut.
Then there are places where people just mindlessly express themselves with no intention. Also, incredibly common.
Some choose to express themselves just for the sake of making their voice known because they have some fleeting feeling that something should be a certain way.
Make note of yourself and how you express yourself. Is it automatic and easy? I don’t believe we need any more common and cordial interactions in the world. We need the kind that make an impact, that drive a stake where it needs to be driven, that spark a fire in the places that need heat.
We need people who are intriguing.
These are the people who truly display their hearts when they speak, they perform, they express themselves. These are the pyromaniacs of the spiritual world.
Sometimes they’re hot heads, too filled with emotion to channel it responsibly. Other times it’s the introverts, those who just have so much bubbling in them that they are afraid to sincerely be themselves because they grew up in a world that taught them it’s dangerous to yourself and others.
There’s nothing wrong with these people, with us. It’s just that, like anything, a skill is only energy until it’s trained.
For the quiet ones, those that stand by and listen and watch (I know this type very intimately): spend more time expressing yourself, one word at a time. Just know what it is you need to say, or at least be in touch with the feeling, and express it! Do it when there’s no one around: learn how to speak privately before you go trying to take part in a workplace discussion that makes you nervous. When you can give a presentation to the audience in the mirror you’ve given yourself permission to speak a sentence in public.
Do not be afraid; be prepared. Speak what you know and stop talking. Too many of us say something and don’t feel the conviction in our own voices so choose then to speak too much, to ramble, in an attempt to convince ourselves or others that what we’ve said holds weight. This confuses us and others and gets the opposite of what we desire (approval). Speaking one true sentence is more impacting than 100 dribbling run-ons.
Speak, reflect, practice (alone), repeat.
Then the hotheads, oh the extroverts who cannot hold their tongues if it meant their own lives. I know these too. They’re often the type-A personalities (certainly not always) who feel the need to take large steps every day, who can’t stop working, thinking or creating. God bless them and God needs to bless them with the power of breath. Just one deep breath between the impulse to speak and the words themselves creates significant space. And in space there is love, and if there is love in your sentences there is love in your interactions with others. This is training to become the leader you were born to be. These men and women are the ones that have good intentions and bountiful hearts and minds, but haven’t found time to practice the slower rhythm that the world needs to hear from. They’re placing acid rock and their audience is there for yoga.
We all, essentially, fall into these two categories. But we all are then grouped into one category: those who are saplings in a world that needs trees.
No matter where you stand, I don’t care if you’re the mailman on my street, the cook at the Fish House, a stay at home parent, or Richard Branson, we all have so much potential energy for growth. The limits we see in our lives are only there because we see them. And while Sir Richard is quoted most often for his wisdom relating to entrepreneurship, he also said the following:
“My biggest motivation? Just to keep challenging myself. I see life almost like one long university education that I never had–every day I’m learning something new.”
Sir Richard Branson or Austin Powers?
It’s this outlook that allows the quiet ones to express their hearts, one bloody tear drop at a time, and the loud mouths to pause and breathe and speak from their hearts with their consciousness intact so that others may empathize.
It allows us to really listen and understand. It allows us to feel free, our arms stretched wide on top of the mountain in our hearts. It gives the mistreated lover the courage to step out of a bad relationship. It presents the parent with the opportunity to give something more to their child than protection and comfort. It gives our projects brilliance, our stories novelty, our love passion, and our laughter tears.
Accept and love yourself completely. A man who doubts his own brilliance will never see the light of his fulfilled potential. And also reflect. Take moments to see what you could do differently and more lovingly, more genuinely, and go about taking the risk. It’s risking your comfort, your reputation, your thoughts about yourself and self esteem. But it’s the risks for the sake of improving the world in and around us that teach us the most.
Be intriguing, take your risks, grow now, and intrude on the clouds.
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