Our Greatest Fear and our Great Potential

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually who are we not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

From “A Return to Love”
by Marianne Williamson

I love what Marianne Williamson wrote. It is, I think, the perfect explanation of Principle 2: Faith begins with Self interest.

Many people confuse what I mean by self interest with what I mean by selfishness. Though these two terms share the root of self, they are actually polar opposites of the same idea

. Self-interest is about becoming the best person you can be. It involves believing in yourself, recognizing your strengths and unique abilities. It also involves a realization of your limitations and where you want to improve. I’ve had people reject this principle because they struggle seeing that there is any virtue in a person “just doing what they want.” First of all, there must be a discussion about virtue. What is it and what does it have to do with faith or self interest? Answer: everything.

I define virtue as that which leads an individual toward their highest potential. I believe that highest potential is an omnipotent, perfect God. The converse of virtue is evil, or anything which leads an individual away from reaching their highest potential. That highest potential has nothing to do with destroying yourself, or making of yourself something less than what you have the potential to become. Neither does it have anything to do with pretending to be better than you are and putting on a facade of virtue. It requires that you first of all, want the best for yourself. In order to do anything virtuous, you must begin with wanting the best for yourself. You cannot accomplish anything virtuous without this as your foundation. This is the foundation of faith, which is the foundation of every action. In The Lectures on Faith, Joseph Smith says,

… faith is the assurance which men have of the existence of things which they have not seen, and the principle of action in all intelligent beings.

If men were duly to consider themselves, and turn their thoughts and reflections to the operations of their own minds, they would readily discover that it is faith, and faith only, which is the moving cause of all action in them; that without it, both mind and body would be in a state of inactivity, and all their exertions would cease, both physical and mental.

Faith is one of the most confused words in the English language. To many people, it is the explanation of everything they want to believe in, but to which they don’t have a rational explanation. To me it is a rational confidence that my principle based choices will work out for my ultimate benefit. If my understanding of truth and principles is faulty, then I will learn something about truth and have the choice to apply that knowledge into my life. The nature of truth didn’t change, but my perception of it did and my faith became more perfect because my understanding of what is truly in my self-interest became more perfect.

I recently listened to a talk where somebody explained about a perceived inconsistency between the two major works of Adam Smith: The Theory of Moral Sentiments, and The Wealth of Nations. The Theory of Moral Sentiments talks about a human tendency toward sympathy, while The Wealth of Nations talks about the human propensity for self-interest. It is interesting to me that people see a conflict between these two concepts. Why is self-interest seen as an opposite to sympathy, or seeking the interest of others? It seems to me that any rational individual will see that seeking the interest of others is one of the fastest ways of achieving their own interests. I see these two as essentially dependent on each other.
Now, before we proceed I feel it is important to address something. An appeal to authority is not a rational argument. In other words, just because someone said something, does not make it so. Just because Joseph Smith said that faith is “the principle of action in all intelligent beings” does not make that statement true. I believe it to be true.

Some have come to the conclusion that because each person has a different perception of truth, that truth is relative and changes with each individual. Truth is not relative or subjective. An analogy helps me to keep it straight. The profession of Surveying is about identifying, measuring, and documenting the location and size of areas of land or other property. Each surveyor approaches the measurement of any given property similarly, but using their own instruments and understanding of property law and accurate methods of measuring it. Each surveyor, will come up with a slightly different view of that property. It is not that the nature of the property changed for each surveyor, but that the perspective of each surveyor was slightly different than the others. The more similar the perspective, the more similar the results of their measurements.

Every act is the result of a choice. Every choice is the result of a preference between the options. A preference is a result of a perception of self-interest, or a belief that the chosen action or thought or emotion is most likely to bring about a benefit for the individual making the choice. Faith is the confidence that this is true. If you don’t believe that your action will accomplish the ends wanted when making the decision, you won’t make the action. If the given choice does not lead to the desired result, then that faith is invalidated, and the person learns more about truth.