Living Big. Пэм Гроут

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       YOU WERE CREATED TO DO BIG THINGS

      LIVE YOUR BELIEFS AND YOU CAN TURN THE WORLD AROUND.

      —Henry David Thoreau

      When you were born, you were powerfully connected to a rich, deep world, a world of magic and enchantment. You could do anything.

      But then your parents got ahold of you.

      “It's wrong to speak your mind,” crazy to talk to the angels, ridiculous to think you could be a painter.

      Why did you believe them?

      Pablo Casals, the famous cellist, once said,

      Each second we live in a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that never was before and will never be again. And what do we teach our children in school? We teach them that two and two makes four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are?

      We should say to each of them: You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the world there is no other child exactly like you. In the millions of years that have passed there has never been a child like you. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything.

      In other words, you are not here to “get by.”

      You are here to create the good, the beautiful, and the holy. You're here to dance, to spread love, to write symphonies, to give birth to the very best that is inside of you. You are here on this planet to love big. To think big thoughts, to dream big dreams.

      Those dysfunctional families that you love to go on and on about? You can heal them.

      The crime? The overcrowding? The greed that so pervades our culture? You can change it.

      You have that kind of power. But you have forgotten. You've squandered your power on meaningless things. You've bartered it away for security. You've wasted your talent by not trusting it. You've hidden your individuality for a paycheck.

      There's a very wise tribe in South America. When someone in their village does something wrong—like steal a neighbor's papaya—the village gathers in a very important tribal meeting. They take the offender, place him in the middle of a circle, and begin to tell wonderful stories about him, stories from his childhood, stories that honor who he is. Remember that time that Kunta climbed the coconut tree faster than anyone else? Remember the time he made that seashell necklace for his grandmother? To them, it's obvious that if he is stealing papayas he has forgotten who he is.

      That's what most of us have done. We have forgotten who we are. So now, we're going to put you in a tribal circle and remind you.

      CHAPTER 1

      Thinking Big: The Attitude of Boldness

      NOT TO DREAM MORE BOLDLY MAY TURN OUT TO BE, IN VIEW OF PRESENT REALITIES, SIMPLY IRRESPONSIBLE.

      —George Leonard

      When you were five, you knew you were the Queen of Sheba. There was no doubt in your mind that you were going to do big things, that your life was important. You paraded around like the gallant human being that you are, driving your parents crazy with your “Mommy, mommy, look at me's.”

      Unfortunately, at some point between the ages of seven and thirteen, most of us shut down and decide to go shopping.

      Living Big means regaining that five-year-old audacity. It means finding the gall to stand up and say, “Hey, over here.” You've got to be bold in your actions. Outrageous in your dreams. And to remember that you are capable of anything. Believing anything else is denying who you are.

      Some might protest that boldness is impudent, that being modest is the attribute to strive for. But modesty is nothing but a learned affectation.

      Robert Fulghum's now-famous essay, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, was recently made into a stage play. In one of the first scenes, the kindergarten teacher asks her fresh young students how many of them are dancers:

      “I am. I am,” they all shout exuberantly.

      “And how many of you are singers?” she continues.

      Again, all of them wave their hands wildly.

      “Painters?”

      Unanimous hand-waving.

      “Writers?

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