You’re Greater Than You Think

When I was younger, my mother informed me that I was heavy-handed. I unintentionally slammed doors, cupboards, and toilet seats because I did not realize the force behind my movements. With her encouragement, I lightened my touch.

Unfortunately, while cleaning my kitchen recently, I reverted to my old ways. I attempted to return my favorite glass baking dish to the cabinet, but did not place it down as gingerly as I thought. It broke in half.

As I wondered where I would ever find another dish so perfect, I thought, ‘Dag, it’s not like I slammed it down.’

Okay, Sheryl, I’ll give you that. I’ll also acknowledge that the angle you were holding the dish was a likely contributor. But the fact remains, you were not as gentle with that dish as you should have been. Years later, you still don’t always recognize your strength.

While I’m sure breaking dishes is a rarity, most of us are stronger than we think. And not only can we dish it out, we can also take it. We may see ourselves as delicate, but time and circumstances reveal that we are not easily broken. We can take a lickin’ and keep on tickin.’

About the same time that I was breaking dishes, I was also writing. I plugged my flash drive into my laptop. The computer informed me that the disk had 7.42 GB of free space – out of 7.44.

A little background on this flash disk… It is the keeper of all my ‘serious’ writing. While there are no book-length works among its files, the disk holds a respectable number of poems, blog posts, short stories, and ‘other’ writings.

There you have it. Nearly my entire writing life on one disk. But I’ve only used 1 percent of the device’s capacity. It was created to hold much more.

My brain is a bit like that disk. I cram it with words and thoughts, and it begs for more. I push it to the limit, and it thunders back: ‘is that all you got?’ It readily reveals new abilities and talents – when I’m open to listening.

Our minds, our spirits, our entire beings are treasure troves of excellence. We have no idea the depth of greatness that lies within. We are sitting on untapped genius and dormant talent. We are stronger than we can fathom. We are so brilliant that it is scary.

Depending on which web site you consult, either Marianne Williamson or Nelson Mandela once said:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.”

God didn’t do anything small. From the moment He set to work constructing this Earth, He dotted the globe with stunning pieces of nature and amazing creatures.

And then He made us, humanity. In His image. In the likeness of the all-power, all-knowing, astonishingly creative, breathtakingly gorgeous God. A little lower than the angels. Imperfectly perfect.

We are strong enough to conquer any challenge we may encounter. We are gifted enough to do whatever we set our minds and faith to do. If only we don’t back down from our fears. Be courageous; access the unlimited greatness within.