I’m sitting at my desk looking at one of my favorite pictures. On the wall rests a framed picture of a raging storm around a lighthouse. In spite of the menacing waves, and dark, threatening skies, the lighthouse stands firm, it’s bright rays of light dancing across the tumult of the waves. The caption on the picture reads: “The ultimate measure of leaders is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience but where they stand in times of challenge and controversy.”
Wow. I’m there. Are you? Are you thinking of easier days, maybe times when there was less stress? What is it you are facing? Plato, the famous Greek philosopher is credited with saying, “The measure of a man is what he does with power” (Mandal, 2023, para 1). The power of our thoughts, the power of the perspective, the power of conclusions drawn day in and day out regarding purpose and meaning of those things which happen in our lives. I think of this power in terms of “The Power of What is” and “The Power of What’s Not.” We have a unique perception and perspective of what is happening in our world.
My question is, what will you do with the power granted to you, “The Power of What is” and “The Power of What’s Not?” We can use this power for good and evil. Sadly, the power is often used in a way that ends up harming us…unnecessarily. You might ask, how is that possible? It is all about realizing the power is actually there – and it is under our control. That is, the power to determine the meaning and purpose of those storms of life that batter us and could sink our ship on raging seas. I’m thinking now of “The Power of What’s Not.” That could easily be construed to mean a deficiency, a loss due to not enough, but I’m choosing to reframe that to a positive and not a negative.
Being somewhat of a history buff, I often think about what daily life might have been like for those who lived millennia and centuries before my time, in various cultures across the world. Were the basics of life taken care of, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, on the lowest rung of the needs ladder (Cherry, 2024)? What about those confined to concentration camps in various periods across time? How did they survive when deprived of all that was good, or so it would seem to us looking back at their recorded sufferings?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian who found his values and beliefs at odds during the reign of Adolf Hitler, in the World War II Germany era. He was eventually imprisoned and executed (Britannica, n.d.). In spite of his untold suffering, and separation from family while facing certain death, Bonhoeffer’s words below are quite remarkable, given the circumstances.
There is meaning in every journey that is unknown to the traveler.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer (GoodReads, 2024, para 25)
For Bonhoeffer, the interpretation of the journey, of the circumstance, of the event, was in the power of the individual experiencing it – regardless of the journey, circumstance, event. What is your “Power of What’s Not”? What opportunity for perspective awaits you, and how might a different perspective make a positive change?
References
Britannica.com (n.d.) Dietrich Bonhoeffer. German theologian. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dietrich-Bonhoeffer/Ethical-and-religious-thought
Cherry, K. (2024). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-4136760
GoodReads (2024). Dietrich Bonhoeffer quotes. https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/29333.Dietrich_Bonhoeffer
Mandal, A. (2023). The measure of a man is what he does with power.
https://medium.com/@arijitman01/the-measure-of-a-man-is-what-he-does-with-power-be9b797d83ec#:~:text=The%20Greek%20philosopher%20Plato%20once,for%20good%20or%20for%20evil.