When I first heard the Greek word, Areté, I was in my thirties, enrolled in college for the uh, 4th time, trying to get my bachelor’s degree before my credits expired. (Who knew credits expired!) I was taking a class in western origins when this little tiny word changed my life forever.
Wikipedia says: pronounced ahr-i-tey, in its basic sense, means “excellence” of any kind. In its earliest appearance in Greek, this notion of excellence was ultimately bound up with the notion of the fulfillment of purpose or function: the act of living up to one’s full potential.
What is so beautiful to me about this word is that everything, and I mean everything, has an areté. What is even more exciting is that everyone’s areté is different!
Think of it this way: Every flower has its own areté: It takes what the earth and sun have to offer and grows the best it can. It doesn’t look at the other flowers and say, “Well, that flower got more sun than me, so that’s why I can’t grow bigger.” No. It just grows the best it can wherever it is planted. That is arête.
Okay, you’re not a flower, so what does this mean to you? Simply put: your highest potential (areté) is yours and yours alone. Phew, that lets you off the hook, doesn’t it? No more having to compare how you are to someone else. No more having to live up to expectations that just don’t suit your personality. No more having to be something you are not because, according to the concept of areté, you already are.
Let’s just take a moment and be realistic; you are the only person in this world who is ever going to know if you did or didn’t live up to your own areté. Don’t let yourself, or others for that matter, fill you up with excuses as to why you shouldn’t or can’t do something! No more excuses. It’s a short life, and there is no good reason for you not to be true to your personal areté.
I would like to hear from you, so use the comments below to tell me about what you think of areté!
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