What is Your Immensity?

I was recently on the California coast and I love being there for so many reasons. One of the big ones is that it reminds me how small I am — in a good way. I’m not carrying EVERYTHING on my shoulders. I can’t. And being there at the foot of the ocean is a reminder that there’s something so much bigger than me that I can’t control. I can’t stop it. I can’t even build a sandcastle that’ll withstand a beating for more than 10 minutes.

So, what is your immensity? What is the thing that helps grounds you? The thing that reminds you (in a good way): that you’re not in control?

Some people use the sky. Some the mountains. For me, the reminder that I’m small comes from the ocean. How do you stay in perspective that you’re a no body?

We tend to think that we need self-esteem and that we’re important. Before a presentation we stand or sit in triumphant poses because that helps our testosterone levels rise and makes us more confident…but that’s a short term strategy. What about the long term of really thinking through releasing our anxiety to remember we’re not the ones in control? We’re not all-powerful and can save everyone?

There are a lot of tragedies each day and I don’t intend to minimize them one bit. But if we stress about all the things that are outside of our control, how can we possibly have the bandwidth, the mental capacity, the physical capability of helping others that are within our control?

I’ve been thinking a lot about the “refuge crisis” lately and I desperately want to help. But I’ve been so concerned about them from a macro level that I haven’t seen those nearby. The homeless, the widow, the orphan, the hungry. I’ve focused my time on that which is outside of my control for the sake of that which I can help, at least, in part.

So us as leaders need to remember this. We are not the saviors of the world — we simply can’t be. We can get burned out thinking that and find ourselves completely incapable and incapacitated in fact. Let’s stop. Let’s think about this world and realize it’s so much larger than us. There are so many things outside of our grasp and that’s okay. Let’s take care of what we can, but leave the rest. Let’s help where we can and yet strive for more but not run in circles because we think we’re bigger than we really are.

So, what is your immensity?

Originally published at www.jeffreybeaumont.com.