I Dare You... #6 - Expand Your Temple

The previous Dares have been somewhat easy.

In fact, the previous Dare asked you to simply S.T.O.P.

The term "S.T.O.P." is actually an acronym, and the previous challenge is a tad bit easier than today's Dare, primarily because the previous dare was all up to YOU.  

Today's dare is a bit more challenging because it's more about you and your interactions with your community.

How many people live in your community?

I guess the answer to that question depends on how you define the word “community.”  

My family lives in Hawaii, on the island of Oahu, which is also known as “The Gathering Place.” With just under one million residents, our island-home is a veritable paradise, complete with miles of stunningly gorgeous beaches, lush, green mountain trails, and countless vistas from which one can take it all in.  

As I have aged, I have come to see a million people as a relatively small number.

In fact, I sincerely believe I will (sooner or later) cross paths with the majority of the people on this tiny Pacific island. Perhaps I won’t shake everyone's hand, and I probably won't share a cup of coffee with most of them.  But we already share the same small mountaintop in the most remote archipelago in the world.

Call me an optimist, but I actually look forward to meeting everyone in my local community.

For most people, the word “community” represents a certain group, population, or society of people.

For example, we all have a neighborhood community and, by definition, we have a neighboring community. Likewise, we usually share a community of interest with other people.  

Many of us have a work community, a political community, and even a church community.

And then there’s this little thing called an online community.

With such a wide and diverse number of communities to belong, one is left wondering which community reigns supreme?

Which community knows you the least? The best?

For which community would you trade all of the others?

And for which community would you sacrifice everything?

Hmmm... Everything?

To some people, this last question may seem like a tough nut to crack. And yet, to others, they KNOW what they THINK is their answer.

For those people in the religious right, the church community reigns supreme.

For those in the political arena, their political community reigns supreme.

Of course, rarely would one say they would forsake ALL OTHERS for their work, political, or church communities. And yet, this is exactly what many people do: They ostracize associates, friends, family, and very wide swaths of the worldwide population… simply because “those” people are not deserving of the love, respect, or even kinship of the most important person in their world (their self).

Ah… the judge that sits alone within all of us.

Yes: we ALL judge.  

Yet, judging is not the problem.

However, being judge, jury, and executioner **IS** a problem... a BIG problem.

And this “problem” is not only wreaking havoc on our worldwide society, it is also destroying the most important person in the world: our self... that is YOUR self, MY self... OUR selves.

For too long, we have allowed the slow-yet-deliberate “decline of Divinity” to destroy what was once a glorious organization (the organization that is ALL of US).

Ours was once a very powerful organization; bold, beautiful, strong, superior, and strengthened not only by our individual sense of self, but also by our conglomerate capability to rise up and repel anything that ran counter to our innate sense of surety.

Are you, too, left wondering what happened to this great society?

Better yet, like me, are you looking forward to the days when we can once again rise up, reach out, and render ourselves all-powerful?

If so, await no more!

Today, I need you to shift your perspective. But that 's not the exact dare.

Whether you are a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Wiccan, or any other self-described representative of the Deity, I ask you to consider the daily opportunity to broaden our contemporary definition of "community" and proactively include your neighbor down the street, as well as those very similar people across the seas, and especially those comparable beings on the other side of the world.

And though we cannot solve world hunger individually, we can certainly nurture one small soul in a sea of smoldering scorn.

That one small soul is you.

For you see… YOU are that one representative of the Divinity.

You are that once-glorious organization.

You are an organized system of thought, action, and re-action.

You, my friend, are simply a re-SOURCE-ing of The Source.

Yours was once a very powerful organization: bold, beautiful, strong, superior, and strengthened not only by your individual sense of self, but also your conglomerate capability to rise up and repel anything that ran counter to your innate sense of surety.

And to get all of that surety back, YOU need to do one simple thing.  Today I dare you to...

    Expand your temple.

Gone are the “holy days of the week.”

Here' a quick reMINDer:

Every day is a God-given blessing; thus every single day is a holy day.

Gone are the walls that defined and confined the vast omnipotence of the Great "I Am."

We no longer need a brick-and-mortar temple to practice our patience.

We no longer need a floor, walls, and a ceiling to fore give the apology.

Indeed, we now need to expand yet return to the nature of what we could be... if only we would be what we should be.

You see, my friend, we are all part of the vast Richness that always was and always will be.

Gone are the days when we could sit comfortably in our own insular communities of comfort, constriction, and convenience.

Accordingly, let us own and understand our “judgmentalness,” lest we grow proud within our denial, and subsequently seek surrender from the already suffering souls as we unabashedly assume the additional roles of jury and executioner.

In reality, we are all one community, desperately in need of each other’s strengths as we navigate the treacherous waters upon which our very own crafts of weaknesses flounder.

In reality, we are all One.

And history is replete with examples of Great Saviors who dined with every aspect of society… even those sections of society who were deemed socially unacceptable by the very same society from whence they came. 

In reality, we are all One.

And the success of our respective and collective futures will not depend on how harshly we judge each other, but rather on how readily and fervently we seek out sin in those of us who have not yet tossed the first stone.  

Trust me: the previous sentence is worth re-reading.

On the other hand, if we can somehow slow down the wheels of self-righteously meted justice long enough to allow others to live their lives in the manner and matters which they deem significant, perhaps we can expect them to likewise like us enough to see us as a part of the Light that can broaden their obviously dark and wicked ways.

Then again, maybe our first stone missed its mark and hit our little light instead.

In reality, we are all One.

Today, I dare you:

     Expand your temple.

Accept. Adapt. Achieve! ®  

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​John H. Clark III is an optimistic realist.
 
He believes better development of leaders is what we (all) need.  And to be better organizations, we need more good leaders, not followers. To build better leaders, we must start with the individual (you, she, he, and me).
 
Described as “an innovative leader,” John teaches leaders, organizations, and individuals how to inspire each other. With a bold goal to inspire a worldwide community of optimistic realists who continuously accept, adapt to, and achieve the bold and beautiful concept of The Ideal Life, John is leading a movement to inspire people to apply his trademarked mantra {Accept. Adapt. Achieve! ®}.
 
An innovative business manager and retired naval officer, John is fascinated by leaders and organizations that make the greatest impact within their organizational culture and within the “real” world — people who “get it.” Over the course of his life as a military leader, corporate mentor, and innovative content creator, John has discovered a wealth of insight about how we think, act and communicate within our respective work/life environments. As a career naval officer, mentor, educator, and optimistic realist, he has devoted his life to sharing insights to assist in our quests to become better at what we all do – live @ work!
 
An optimist with a penchant for writing about realistic solutions to the challenges of everyday life, John is the author of 3 books: a leadership-development insider, "The Ideal: Your guide to An Ideal Life," a teen-focused guide, "Getting Out: Expert Advice for Today’s Teens," and the Christian-based book, "God’s Heartbeat: A Powerful Premise for Leading a Christian Life."
 
He delivers a unique and refreshing point of view to life's seemingly overwhelming situations. 
 
Through books, blogs, and everyday conversation, John's message resonates with an empowering blend of ideals that enrich, uplift, and “authorize” people to set and achieve goals far beyond current mindsets.  His trademarked phrase is a winner: