I think our biggest fear is living up to our potential. We are afraid of our greatness. We are afraid to venture beyond the norm, the expected, the usual. We are afraid to be different, to stand out, to be the unique beings we really are. So we fall into the trench of common, ordinary, and routine. Yes, a trench. A hole in the ground. Dug in times of war for protection. Dug in our consciousness to hide our true selves.

To claim our greatness, we go up against a very powerful force: race thought, collective unconscious. Race thought teaches us to fit in, to be ordinary, to not break the mold, to belittle ourselves, to deny ourselves of our desires, deny our potiential, deny our expression of our talents, to not dream big or do big. Who do you think you are, anyway? You can't do that. You can't be that. You are the little guy.

We not only hear that from the outside world. We buy into it. We start telling ourselves that. As don Miguel Ruiz ("The Four Agreements") would say: we agree to that. That is our hand-shake deal with the world.

But you know what happens when we make that deal? We become frustrated, bored, depressed, hopeless, lifeless, angry -- with ourselves and the world. When we turn those feelings inward, we become mentally or physically ill or unbalanced. When we turn those feelings outward, we become violent and destructive.

We are living inauthentically. And our Spirit knows it. Why else would you be frustrated or violent? We keep pushing down our greatness. For that is our authentic selves. We were born of greatness and must express our unique greatness. It is hardwired into us.

I'm not talking about human egotism. The most egotistical people are also the ones with the highest levels of feeling worthless. They need outer bravado to make up for inner feelings of inferiority. True greatness is humble. True greatness knows where that greatness comes from ("It is the Father within that doeth the work"). Human ego is a poor substitute for Spiritual greatness, but that is what ego attempts to be.

When we force outer behavior to make up for the lack of inner power and peace, we get into trouble. Peace will not be seen on this planet until we accept and live by our greatness and accept the equal greatness of others. Every human conflict stems from feeling powerless enough to lash out; from building up an ego to feel superior when in the midst of the deepest inferiority complex.

We are born of the image and likeness of God's Greatness. The world gains little from our self-imposed smallness. It gains much when we allow our greatness to shine. Think Big. Do great things. Move beyond your comfort zone. You can handle it. Crawl your way out of that trench. You can do it because of the Spirit within you. Celebrate your uniqueness. Don't pretend to be like everyone else. We know you are not.

Copyright © 2006 Tina Montalto
Tina Montalto is the founder and president of Conscious Kernels, Inc., an ePublishing company specializing in New Thought spiritual eBooks and audio books. She is the author of "You are What You Think" available for free at the company's website. She has also created and serves as instructor for a 7-week eCourse on Spiritual Mind Treatment also available at the website. In addition to providing a selection of original eBooks, Conscious Kernels offers a free monthly eNewsletter, a community-building discussion board, spiritual retreats, and e-greeting cards.

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