Good Morning,
I do not remember ever reading Ralph Waldo Emerson before, but I certainly know the name. In listening to the 50 Self-Help Classics on CD while driving to and from work, Emerson’s Essay ‘Self-Reliance’ was listed as one of the 50 classics. During the discussion of the work, a couple of points hit me. The first is that it was under 30 pages long, and second that it had just as much value and impact in today’s world as it did when it was first written over 160 years ago. During my last trip to the library, I found an Emerson book with the essay ‘Self-Reliance’ within it.
Saturday night I sat at the dinner table and read ‘Self-Reliance’. I could not believe the writing style. Outside of the typical 19th Century English used, the words flowed better than most books written today. I felt like I was reading from a true master (which is good, because I was).
The central theme of this work is to challenge convention and be true to your heart and values. He further challenges that if you do not stand up for your beliefs and be true to yourself, that you will amount to less and life a life of mediocrity. This core value is so critical in our world today. With everything moving so quickly and change happening faster than breathing some days, we have to work hard to not get caught up in all and lose ourselves.
I am pretty sure Emerson did not mean to openly challenge authority, to press our luck against the law and business policy just for the sake of doing it. I believe Emerson was telling us to follow our hearts and values and if we are in a place where we cannot be true to ourselves that we either have to stand up and risk the backlash, put up and diminish ourselves, or leave and take our chances somewhere else.
Many of us work in places where we do not feel we are being totally utilized either through working for others or being self-employed or owning a company where you have to follow specific rules and guidelines for various reasons.
In these situations we can still be true to ourselves by sharing our viewpoints in a positive and non-threatening way. We can try to step up and make positive changes and offer help. Challenging convention does not have to be akin to mutiny these days. We can do it in an email with ideas, or a scheduled one on one with our bosses and peers to share our feelings and values. And if it still does not work, you have two more options.
The worst thing we can do is to accept what we do not believe or is against our values. Then we diminish ourselves. Never let that happen!
It was brilliant over 160 years ago, it is still brilliant today; Emerson’s ‘Self-Reliance’ still packs a punch today and can make us all better people due to it.
Enjoy!
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