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#462 Our Greatness

"Anything may be betrayed, anyone may be forgiven. But not those who lack the courage of their own greatness." "It does not matter that only a few in each generation will grasp and achieve the full reality of man’s proper stature—and the rest will betray it. It is those few that move the world and give life its meaning—and it is those few that I have always sought to address. The rest are no concern of mine; it is not me or “The Fountainhead” that they will betray: it is their own souls."

~ Ayn Rand, 20th century Objectivist philosopher

Areté starts and ends and is driven every moment by courage—by our willingness to grow, to evolve and to challenge ourselves to be who we are capable of being, moment by moment by moment.

Nothing is more important and nothing is more challenging.

Society does anything but support our growth, our individuality and our greatness. We’re told from the day we’re born that we need to behave a certain way, wear the right clothes, drive the right cars, live in big houses in the right neighborhood, get the right education and the impressive job and beautiful spouse and 2.2 kids and all that other nonsense. It’s enough to drive anyone insane.

You have to be willing to jump from the normal and risk looking like an idiot as you grow.

As Maslow says, “You will either step forward into growth or you will step back into safety."

Which way are you headed?

"You’re packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been. A place that has to be believed to be seen."

~ U2, 21st century rockin’ band