Stop Acting So Small
You Can Be So Much More
Welcome to the YouTopian Journey, a Substack featured publication. Each week I will be sharing unique wisdom that can help you in the daily battles that we must all fight in the game of life. This week we discuss why you must stop acting so small.
Please note that we will be off next weekend due to the holidays.
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A SMALL AND SICK SOCIETY
“When a man plays it short, he doesn’t look so good, act so good, he doesn’t even walk right. Most people are dead long before they are buried, that’s why funerals are so sad. Most people quit too easy, they accept the short end, they compete for small prizes and become small. I don’t expect everybody to be a genius but I never guessed that so many would rush to idiocy with such aplomb.”-Charles Bukowski
When it comes to society, what does one think of? The culture that it espouses? The people? The knowledge? There are many words to describe our society, but the one that comes to mind immediately is sick.
We are sick, there is no doubt about that. This society grows sicker by the day it seems. But more than just our body fighting off various viruses and ailments, we are infected with something far more insidious, a sickness of the mind. This mind sickness has removed our powers and convinced the multitude that they are nothing more than small pieces on a board, being maneuvered by invisible hands.
We are all infected with this sickness. It is in our minds, our bodies, and our cells.
This sickness of the small may have even infected your beliefs and attitude. It may have convinced you that you are not capable of certain actions. It may have poisoned your behavior, altering it so that you believe yourself at home in the muck and mire rather than among the stars.
You may have wanted to try your hand at entrepreneurship, starting a business or founding a company, only to be faced with the statistical improbabilities of success.
This deterred you.
You may have wanted to attempt to create something. A book, a script, a line of code, only to be met with blank stares and the negativity of your peers.
This deterred you.
You may have wanted to get into acting, getting head shots done, taking classes, and auditioning for roles, only to face rejection after rejection, causing you to second guess yourself.
This deterred you.
You may have wanted to switch careers, charting a new but unfamiliar course, only to discover that every opportunity required years of experience in the field.
This deterred you.
You may have wanted to go your own way, blazing a trail and forging your own path, only to be met with ridicule and doubt.
This deterred you.
The time has come to give up this small position. You must think large and act large. This is the only way to achieve large goals. If you fail to do so, the repercussions will stay with you for the rest of your life.
“I believe in work. If somebody doesn’t create something, however small it may be, he gets sick. An awful lot of people feel that they’re treading water-that if they vanished in smoke, it wouldn’t mean anything at all in this world. And that’s a despairing and destructive feeling. It’ll kill you.”-Arthur Miller
This isn’t an esoteric secret and the cure isn’t something that requires years of research in some secluded lab. The cure is right here in front of you. It is in your hands. You can change your life at this very moment and become larger than you could ever imagine. There is no better time than now. There is no need to wait for next year to make a resolution. There is no point in waiting for the stars to align and for everything to be just right.
There is only now and your desire to accept this cure. But very few want this cure because they prefer the disease.
Why?
People have become conditioned to accept their small role in society, never once believing that they can alter it or change it for the better. And if the notion ever did strike them, the amount of work and pain that is involved is something that few are willing to experience.
It is so easy to remain small, to hide amongst the mediocre masses and be shrouded in conformity.
“Too venturesome a thing to be oneself, far easier and safer to be like the others, to become an imitation, a number, a cipher in the crowd.”-Søren Kierkegaard, The Sickness unto Death
Remaining small is safe because it means you don’t ever have to take risks. You never have to leave your comfort zone.
Remaining small is pleasurable because it means you don’t ever have to face criticism. You never have to put yourself out there.
Remaining small is preferred because career and life requirements are now triumphs, so victory comes easily. You never have to venture into anything more demanding than paying the rent.
Remaining small is recommended because the world is too difficult and you won’t ever have to truly fail. You never have to try anything new that has a chance of failing.
Remaining small is the right course of action because you won’t get hurt or face adversity. You never have to feel pain or uncomfortable feelings.
It is up to you to decide what you want to do. To become larger than yourself is something that is both difficult and frightening, but these feelings are a small price to pay for what you could become. So many cannot comprehend this prospect so they remain small, all too small.
Do not be one of them.
You are capable of more, so much more. You have unrealized potentialities within you. When properly focused and acted upon, your life can change in ways that you never thought possible. This is what the small fear. They live in fear of their own potential, their possible success, and even their probable greatness. Because of this fear, they never act. The sickness of the small spreads throughout them, metastasizes, and ultimately and fatally defeats them.
We cannot let this happen.
You cannot let this happen.
Do not remain small. Dare to become larger and see where the decision takes you.
“If any organism fails to fulfill its potentialities, it becomes sick.”-William James
THE PRICE FOR BECOMING LARGE
“Therefore be on your guard against the small ones! In your presence they feel themselves small, and their baseness gleams and glows against you in invisible vengeance. You did not see how often they became silent when you approached them, and how their energy left them like the smoke of a waning fire? Yes, my friend, you are the bad conscience of your neighbors, for they are unworthy of you. Therefore they hate you, and would rather suck your blood. Your neighbors will always be poisonous flies; what is great in you -- that itself must make them more poisonous, and always more fly-like. Flee, my friend, into your solitude-and there, where a rough strong breeze blows. It is not your job to be a flyswatter.”-Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus spoke Zarathustra
When you seek to become larger, you will not be welcomed with open arms. In fact, you won’t be welcomed at all.
You will be met with suspicion, doubt, scorn, and envy. You will be a target.
Why is this the case?
Because the small cannot stand any deviation from the path that they were programmed with. They are too busy dealing with the large drama of their small lives. There is always something to keep them occupied. An entertainment story, a viral video, a debate, credit card payments, influencers, vacation plans, etc. This keeps them small. When they see others making an attempt to break free, it cuts them and leaves a wound that isn’t visible on the outside. They must have a say in your future, an opinion, a statement of fact that they believe to be true. They must justify why you are wrong and they are right.
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”-Albert Einstein
Because they are small, you must remain small! Small in the present, small in the future, small forever.
But you are not small!
You have so much to accomplish and you must grow large to reach your goals and make them a reality. You are more powerful than you realize.
How do I know this?
Because we all have vast reserves of power that we rarely ever actualize, let alone put to use. The human being is a result of facing the worst that nature could throw at it for tens of thousands of years. Our ancestors went from disaster to disaster and the result is you, reading these very words. You are more resilient, determined, and powerful than you could ever imagine.
“People travel to marvel at the mountains, seas, rivers and stars and they pass right by themselves without astonishment.”-Saint Augustine
Once you realize this inherent power and put it to use, things will change for you. This change and remaining small is incompatible. You must make the choice. Pay the price for becoming large and face the hostility and difficulties it brings, or remain powerless and small.
You know what to do.
Choose to pay the price and leave the smallness behind. Face your fears and become large, attempting what you always thought was impossible and going after what you always believed was out of reach.
You will surprise yourself.
“No one knows what he can do until he tries.”-Publilius Syrus
Above all, choose to remain large and live your life in a way that the small could never comprehend. Where there isn’t a road, blaze a trail. Where knowledge is lacking, push past your hesitations and begin to learn. When you lack resources, rely on resourcefulness. Don’t fear setbacks or difficulties, it is all part of the journey. Acknowledge your fears but understand that they can be overcome. Face failure with a smile and greet success with surprise and humility. Ultimately, one of the greatest benefits of being large is that you inspire others. You give them hope and strength to leave the confines of the small.
You become an example and a goal model to people that you would never otherwise encounter. You motivate them to take the first step on their own journey. You uplift those who need it and, in the end, your community and even society at large may benefit from your decision to stop being so small.
Make the right choice today, we are counting on you.
“Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.”-Rumi
ONE LAST THING
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I’m Shaun Gold and if you are reading this, you are already on your journey. Catch you next week.
Fantastic! This is giving me more pep in my step, so to speak! Your light shines brightly and we all bask in the warmth of your words!
Incredible and timely. I aspire to live large and I’m working towards it everyday. No one around me seems to understand or encourage my efforts. I loved reading this and having perspective from a fellow writer living large!