By Juanpablo Barrantes
Leader’s Approach
5 min read
“There’s no school who teaches you about how to live.
People use to hide away or they just even exist, forgetting about Being, forgetting about God” —translated lyrics from spanish rock song “Desarma y sangra” of Serú Girán—
Probably you have never wonder yourself about what it really means to label the word “idiot” in your face and not knowing about it. Here’s what Google shows about the word i-d-i-o-t:
[Idiot is a conceited person without a reasonable foundation for it, with little intelligence and inconvenient with his words or actions. The word idiot is of Greek origin "ἰδιώτης" or "idiōtēs" which means "deprived of oneself"]
No doubt telling someone idiot is as offensive as unfortunate, though well deserved for those who fit in the above definition. To me, something that grabs all my attention is the Greek root of the word:
“Idiot = Deprived of oneself”
What a deep concept: to be deprived of oneself! Let me share some insights about what I think it’s one of the worst personal tragedies in one’s life: being away and inaccessible, deprived of oneself.
- to unconsciously ignore (or consciously deny ...) this irrefutable fact: everything that exists in life is interconnected and therefore interdependent from each other. EVERYTHING (good or evil) that you do will get back to you at some extent and in the same intention that you gave it so far, sooner or later.
- to falsely believe and cling to the idea that my truth is “The Truth”. Lacking Empathy, that is, the chronic inability of not knowing or simply not wanting about how to genuinely listen and fitting into others’ shoes.
- to show up yourself on the wrong side of selfishness and fear rather than on the right side of generosity and trust. That is, having a mindset of discrimination instead of inclusion, of complaining instead of appreciating, of retaliating instead of educating, of judging instead of tolerating, of competing instead of cooperating, of reacting instead of responding, of hating instead of loving.
Amongst times of crisis it’s when you’re fully stretched to show who you really are. Essentially insightful or just an idiot? Just look around and ask yourself what kind of decisions are making powerful people and leaders in the midst of such adverse times?
Are they genuinely influencing through their actions towards common wealth or they’re just manipulating to squeeze everything around to their own benefit? It’s one or the other... there’s no in-between (by the way, doing nothing is as evil as being manipulative).
Again, just give a count of the influencing people around you: your boss, the president of your country, businessmen and authorities in general. Now reflect on the following: the long term future of your community, that of your country and therefore your quality of life will certainly be determined by the decisions such leaders are making. And then, as a result and since everything is interrelated, eventually it will replicate and spread to the whole world. So we all have a challenge in looking to revert the balance between stupidity and insightfulness , of course in advantage of the latter.
To find one self's essence is definitely the name of the game in life. So my advise is, let’s embrace an infinite mindset, start by knowing yourself until mastering the skills of self reflection and inner contentment. You’ll know you’ve reached your personal pinnacle in life once those around you and hence the world become a little bit better because of you.
I’d like to finish this inspiration with some wisdom from Facundo Cabral, who’s always shaking our souls and minds to look for a self discovery with ourselves and our own-essentials...
"When you are alone and in calmness, but especially when you are with yourself, in solitude with the one and only person from whom you are responsible for, I will tell you: —let curiosity to guide yourself where life is just happening. Avoid being another servant of social media but instead encourage yourself to be the main actor of your own life. Be aware that good things in life are earned for those who encourage and stretch themselves despite their own reality; paint a YES! on your face when you go out so that anyone with enough passion and inspiration feel attracted by you. Don’t worry about time because life is an infinite game, so anyone with the right mindset can easily start it all over again, at any moment indeed. Then, there’s no limit, you decide how far you want to go. Don't get distracted from the quest of reaching fulfillment. Nothing like living by your inner self! "