I had to pleasure of sitting down with Dewayne Dickens, Senior Director of the Center for Community & Learning at Tulsa Community College. We talked about greatness and what it meant. I asked him two questions:
· What is your definition of greatness?
· What advice do you have when it comes to helping students experience it?
He shared how greatness is connected to how well you know yourself. As you grow in knowing and understanding yourself, you can connect better to the “why” you were put on this earth to accomplish. He shared how the more we connect to who we are and why we are here, the more we can help others unlock their voice and who they are.
But how can students achieve this? He shared the importance of self-discovery; knowing what you want, and also why you want it. He went on to explain, “I don’t see how you can know who you are without knowing who God is.”
Connecting to God, our Creator, is how we can come to know ourselves better. He elaborated by saying, “those who diligently search for God will find God, and a search for God is actually a search for oneself.” When we know ourselves in that context it gives us confidence.
My Thoughts
We are all on a journey to discover why we are here. And what I have seen that tends to happen is people try to find themselves in copying the purpose of others. Instead of being inspired by others, we copy them and what they are doing, and in the end we end up losing ourselves.
We can’t know ourselves by ourselves. Trying to know yourself by yourself, is almost like trying to learn what it means to be an American growing up in a different country. That’s not going to work out too well. Or learning what it is like to be European from North America. In the same way to know who you are outside of your Creator can’t really help you truly know who you are.
Example
I am a big fan of art. But I remember being handed a piece of art from a toddler and thinking to myself “What in the world is this?” Maybe you’ve been there before. But you think it’s a tree, or a building, or maybe even a dinosaur of some kind. But it’s not until the one who drew the work of art speaks and shares that we come to realize this is what the piece is. In the same way, greatness is discovering what/who you are, and what you were made for.
Summary
You are a work of Art. When we take the time to discover who we are, we can walk more confidently in the world and in our purpose. Greatness is not far from those who know themselves. And when it comes to knowing yourself, it’s hard to know yourself by yourself. Taking time to connect with you Creator allows you to know yourself in a deeper way than you’ve known before.
Reflection
Who are you? Have you spent more time discovering other people or discovering yourself? What steps can you take today to learning more about yourself? Who’s your Creator? Have you taken to time to connect with your Creator? What’s stopping you?
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