Be Like Michelangelo. See the Best in Yourself and Others.©

I want to be like Michelangelo.

I had the chance to travel to Italy sixteen years ago. Florence was one of the stops on my trip. It was one of the most beautiful cities I had ever seen.

One day I visited the Michelangelo Museum. I was excited to see one of the most famous statues in the world, Michelangelo’s “David”. I walked through the front door of the museum, turned, and there it was. The statue of David standing high on a pedestal at the end of the main hallway. I walked right to the statue and just stood there in awe of Michelangelo’s creation.

After a few minutes I stepped back to give others a chance to get a good look at David. I walked around the rest of the museum to see the other sculptures on display. Everything in the museum was great. But I kept looking back at David. I was so amazed that something so beautiful could be carved out of such a hard, hard stone.

So as I was leaving the museum, I stopped a tour guide and I asked, “Do we know anything about what inspired Michelangelo when he carved David?” And he looked right at me and said in English with a heavy Italian accent, “Yeah, yeah we do. Michelangelo said what inspired him.” The guide then turned in the direction of David and quietly told me what Michelangelo had said.

“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”

This is the moment I decided I wanted to be like Michelangelo.

I think about this every night when I check on my little daughters. Every night since the day they were born, I go into their rooms just before I go to bed. I pull up their blankets, and I kiss them on the cheek. I look at them sleeping peacefully and I think of Michelangelo. I see the angel inside each of them.

We should all look for the angel inside ourselves and our loved ones. We should ask the question, “What is that special place within all of us?” We all have knowledge, skills, experiences, and expectations that are part of the person we think we are. Yet at our core, we know there’s something unique about us. Our best self is in there and we know it.

Every day I try to ask myself, “How can I help my daughters stay connected to their real strengths, what they love to do, and what matters most to them in their lives?”

The science of Positive Psychology has found that this question is an important one to ask. Co-founder of Positive Psychology Martin Seligman and University of Michigan Psychologist Christopher Peterson discovered that people become happier the more they engage their signature strengths. The late Don Clifton, and Jim Harter, both of The Gallup Organization, found in their research, “The more a strength is exercised, the more integrated it becomes…Teachers, mentors, and parents may accelerate the development of individuals by basing their expectations for a person on his or her talents.”

Michelangelo had it right. He focused on the good and he brought it to life. His statue of David is a reminder to us all to look for the best in others.

Some day I will no longer be here to kiss my girls good night. When that day comes, I hope Eliana and Ariela will each say, “My Dad saw the angel inside me. My Dad was my Michelangelo.”

David J. Pollay is the author of “Beware of Garbage Trucks!™ - The Law of the Garbage Truck™ (www.bewareofgarbagetrucks.com).” His book, The Law of the Garbage Truck™, is due out this Fall, and you can read his blog each week. Mr. Pollay is a syndicated columnist with the North Star Writers Group, creator and host of The Happiness Answer™ television program and DVD, and an internationally sought after speaker. He is the founder and president of The Momentum Project. If you would like to reprint Mr. Pollay’s columns, or include them in your blog, please email david@themomentumproject.com.  David J. Pollay’s bio.

Comments

[David J. Pollay]

Hi Mutembei!

Thank you for your post! It is great to hear from you! It was great connecting in Poland.

Congrats on the program you attended with Lou Tice; it sounds like it was very meaningful! And thanks for the video.

Please stay in touch and keep up with the blog; you’ll like what’s coming.

Best to you,

David

[Mutembei]

Hey David,

It's been 2 years but I still remember Poland like it was yesterday.
The concept you so unselfishly sent our way came full circle for me when I was in Seattle in Febuary at the Pacific Institute with a gentleman by the name Lou Tice it was full circle when I attended the PX2 program they have here's a link to a youtube video about it http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=PX2+pacific+institute&search_type= the link has a search of the video's I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Hope to keep in touch.

Thank you for touch this life.

How does man move to his greater self...that is the question on my mind always if I can continously advance myself I am truely living my purpose.

Now all I'm thinking is how can I spread what I've learned would love to hear you're ideas on that

From Kenya

Mutembei

[David J. Pollay]

Hi Dey,

Thanks for your thoughtful post!

That’s exactly the idea. The angel is within us now. It always has been. It always will be. We just need to keep it free and clear to soar in our lives.

And thanks for your kind words!

Best to you,
David

[David J. Pollay]

Hi Chinar,

Thanks for your post! Make sure to read about my concept of a “Fill Year.” This will help you find out what you are most passionate about in your life, and what you do best.

http://davidjpollay.typepad.com/david_j_pollay/2008/05/do-what-you-lov.html

Stay encouraged!

Best to you,

David

[Dey]

We all are already the best we can be, but we are covered by pieces of marble that are not part of the "David" we are... This is differently from saying 'of the David that we can be'. We already are...

We just need to let this pieces go...

Thanks David for bringing the story again... We all need to be remembered, that is part of the Michelangelo in you...

[Chinar]

Really nice article...

I am currently in the search what is mine and feel troubled with finding that something special i am really good at.

Thanks for encouragement. :) Chinar