How Large is Your Circle?

I love watching movies. Movies not only entertain us, but sometimes they contain a message that can leave a deep impression on us and, as a result, can help us in becoming a better person.

When I watched 10, 000 B.C. some years ago, I liked the movie. Some people might find it a bit violent for their taste, and to be honest, the movie didn’t do very well with the critics either. But it doesn’t matter. The point of this post is not to make you watch the movie, but to share with you a quote from the movie:

A good man draws a circle around himself and cares for those within. His woman, his children. Other men draw a larger circle and bring within their brothers and sisters. But some men have a great destiny. They must draw around themselves a circle that includes many, many more. Your father was one of those men. You must decide for yourself whether you are, as well.

I am sure most of us would immediately agree with what is said in the quote – all of us draw circles around ourselves and try to care for those who fall within the circle. But, what we might not agree on is whether, with each passing day, the circle is getting smaller and smaller for most of us.

We tend to get so busy with our lives that we fail to see the circle contracting. Sometimes, the circle shrinks so much that all it can contain is us. We never plan for the circle to shrink, but  when we don’t try to expand our circle, it begins to naturally get smaller. A small circle means that we are not only caring about fewer people, but we are also not developing our abilities – mental as well as physical – to look after the interests of a larger group of people.

I strongly believe that as humans, who were not meant to live in isolation, it should be our conscious and continuous endeavour to enlarge our circle as much as we possible.

So, how large is your circle?

(Image: svilen001 from sxc.hu)