The Inner More
I think Maslow got it wrong. In fact I know he did.
Humans have always been able to survive, thrive and find meaning (self-actualization) despite their circumstances (the conditions Maslow lists in his hierarchy). The physical body may suffer, but we have an “inner more” that is able to stand in strength no matter what the depravation of our circumstances.
Travel the halls of Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and you’ll run into these people. They confidently say it is well with them as they face the death of their bodies. Trust me, you’ll be inspired. How are they able to “be” in strength as they face the inevitable? It’s because they know that they are much more than the body they live in. That when their physiology has no defense against the onslaught of certain death, it is their “inner more” that grounds, guards and guides them.
We are much more than our biology. This is a persistent and consistent historic understanding of us, one that’s shared around the globe. It’s in our stories, faith practices, traditions, experiences, belief systems, and more. Today quantum physics is leading scientific thought into agreement. And it’s being greater than our biology that is central to our “inner more.”
Perhaps my ancestral past makes it easier for me to understand our “inner more.” Realize this, that I am only here today because my ancestors lived. They lived because they had in them something that was indomitable, transcendent and indestructible. It fueled their ability and their will to live – to be, even though they endured a life of horror, hardship and hatred. Stated simply, they were better resourced because they lived from what I’ve been calling the “inner more”. And they aren’t the only ones.
Viktor Frankl, psychologist and holocaust survivor of 4 concentration camps said this, “Man's inner strength may raise him above his outward fate.” And “Everything can be taken from a person but one thing, the last of the human freedoms, to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Having to satisfy the right circumstances (the foundation for Maslow's hierarchy) isn’t what gives us the ability to be, to rise and to find meaning.
We’ve all witnessed the remarkable power of the “inner more” in people whose circumstances suggested that they shouldn’t be doing well, yet they are. I’m a believer because I’m a product of it. I’m therefore continuing to up-level my life as I tap into the “inner more” my ancestors’ worked so hard to pass on to me. And the good news is that you can too.
Eric