One’s only rival is one’s own potentialities. One’s only failure is failing to live up to one’s own possibilities. In this sense, every man can be a king, and must therefore be treated like a king.
——-Abraham Maslow
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I really like this quote from Maslow, who was the prime mover behind humanistic psychology before his death in 1970. His work centered on self-actualization, which is based on the individual reaching his own personal potential for satisfaction. One’s own potential creates its own set of goals which are not dependent on anyone else’s goals or expectations. In this mindset, the most humble of us can be as satisfied with their lot in life as the most powerful or successful in our society. Every man is a king.
This seems to be a concept that is lacking in our society at this point and one that contributes greatly to our problems. We base success and failure not on our own internal expectations and potentials but on a set that is based on outside influences. We compare everything in our life to those of someone else. Instead of asking if what we have satisfies our needs and desires we ask how it compares to our friends or colleagues. Are we doing better than them? Is what we have better than what they have? Are we making more money than them?
It’s a sad commentary that we think our own happiness is based on surpassing someone else in material means. I wrote a while ago about the hedge-fund trader who said that the tens of millions he had made were not enough because someone else is making more than him. Or the whining well-to-do’s that claim they are not doing well enough because someone else is making 10 times their income and has a bigger home. These are people who have lost their center, their capacity for happiness. They do not appreciate the bounty of their lives, do not see that satisfaction is within reach.
I don’t know how things can change from this culture of attainment. It would be nice if Maslow’s theories could resurface and become epidemic throughout our society but they make a fragile structure before the force of greed and selfishness.
For me, I will focus on who I am and my own level of satisfaction. Not on what I am not or what you have. If I can do that, peace and happiness are mine and I will indeed feel as a king.
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Just a quick addenda: I realize that I usurped Huey Long’s catchphrase for this post and that it has nothing to do with the populist movement that Long started. They had some really interesting concepts and might have been a powerful force in our country. However, greed and demagoguery, as is usually the case, did them in. Great catchphrase though!
Redtree Times 