There’s nothing like a little recognition to make us feel good about ourselves. We have come to think that gaining the recognition of others is the key to living a life of value.
This desire to be recognized is innate, which is why our children call out to us, “Hey! Look at me! Watch me!”
Association Doesn’t Make You Great
Living as we do in a culture of celebrity and renown makes it tempting to believe that having the adulation of others or an association with the powerful is what makes an important life. It is nice to be seen. It feels good to be known. To be seen by others feels like a confirmation of our existence. It’s a celebration of the fact that we are alive and that we matter.
We feel important when we are seen and photographed with a celebrity. Subconsciously, we hope that an association with powerful people will rub off on us and perhaps make us famous. It’s easy to confuse a brush with these moguls with a moment of greatness.
But we’ve heard celebrities talk about what it feels like to be in the limelight. They say that at first it feels great. All that personal attention is seductive and intoxicating. Then comes the realization that the moments that feed the ego are hollow and fleeting. The bloated sense of self-importance is just like hot air, quickly gone and just as insubstantial.
Self-Importance vs. Greatness
Having both the need for self-importance and the need to live a life of greatness can be confusing. The two impulses can feel similar, but they arise from different places.
The need to be important comes from the ego, the separate self. This need to feel important is organic to our humanity.
We can be important one day, and a mere drop in a very big bucket the next. And when we realize this, we can let go of the need to be important.
True greatness, rather than mere importance, comes from the soul, the source of our connection to others.
Jesus Said to be Great is to be a Servant
The fundamental spiritual truth is one in which Jesus points to in the story of James and John, the sons of Zebedee. James and John go to Jesus and say, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
Jesus answered, “What do you want me to do for you?”
“Grant us to sit one at your right hand and one at your left when you come into your glory,” they replied.
Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you’re asking. Whoever would be great among you must be your servant.”
Surrender to Greatness
It was Mahatma Gandhi who coined the term satyagraha, which is a Sanskrit term typically translated to mean “soul force.” Rather than submitting to the whims of the current culture and the conditioning of the mind, satyagraha means selfless service without any thought of personal gain. A satyagrahi is someone who has surrendered to a greater truth than one’s own emotions or ambitions.
Dag Hammarskjold Once said, “I don’t know Who — or What —put the question. I don’t know when it was put. I don’t even remember answering. But at some moment I did answer Yes to Someone—or Something—and from that hour I was certain that existence is meaningful and that therefore, my life, in self-surrender, had a goal.”
To what exactly was Dag Hammarskjold surrendering himself? To what did Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther King surrender themselves? Somehow, at some point, each one surrendered their self-will and said yes, not to saving the world, but to serving humanity, no matter what.
Feelings are Ephemeral
I often hear people talk about how important it is for them to be true to their feelings. Sometimes I ask, “Which feeling would that be? The feeling now, or the feeling later?”
Spiritual teachers from every tradition tell us that feelings are not the soul’s truth. Mostly, feelings are a reaction to the last thing that happened. That said, we must still honor and respect our feelings and the feelings of others. But the surrender to greatness requires us to live out of a deeper place than the feeling of the moment.
Did Martin Luther King go to jail because doing so was what he felt like at the time? Or did he go out of a deeper conviction? Did Mother Teresa sit through countless cold, dark nights, holding the hands of people who were dying because that’s what she felt like doing?
Feelings come and go. Tip your hat to your feelings but take off your coat to living a committed life that is more than a reaction to your feelings. Surrender yourself to something greater, no matter how you feel, no matter what the outcome.
Always, the challenge comes in making the commitment to live in this little moment while giving ourselves over to a greater servanthood. There is a greatness that awaits each one of us. No matter who you are, greatness awaits you. Greatness is a journey of surrender, not a final destination in the limelight.
Say yes.
If you struggle with controlling your sense of self-importance, you may find the following article helpful:
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Relevant Scripture:
Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.’ (Daniel 7:27)
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18)
The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. (Matthew 23:11-12)
“Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces. (Luke 11:43)
Reference:
A Voluptuous God by Robert V. Thompson
Spiritual Meditations 