Why I No Longer Strive For Greatness

Being great…that’s all people seem to want now adays.  There are so many ways a person can be seen as great or be labeled as great.  There are reality shows, having a hit song, having a certain economic status, playing a sport, or having a large number of Facebook friends, twitter followers, or contacts on LinkedIn.

I remember when I was growing up it took a lot for someone to see you as great.  You could not just have a hit song, the entire album had to be a hit and you had to actually have talent.  A person had to accomplish something that made a significant imprint on the fabric of society and not just act simple on television.  I mean, you had to be excellent in what you were presenting to the world.  Now, we accept mediocrity and spin it with smoke and mirrors so it appears great.  But, in all honesty how many people that are known today are actually great?  Think about the people that are the highlight of our conversations and our TV stations, if they were no more would their contribution to the framework of society be missed?

I had a meeting with a mentor and we were discussing my journey and a door that I closed on an opportunity.  I explained to him that I closed the proverbial door because I did not think it would lead me to the path of greatness of how I imagined it.  Yes, I have always imagined myself making a positive and dynamic mark in this world, but I always saw myself leaving a financial legacy behind for my family that would last many generations.  I closed certain opportunities that I thought would not lead me there.  The meetings that I was taking and the opportunities I was developing was totally based on this false surface definition of greatness.

A greatness that is defined by things, titles, connections, and notoriety; rather than focusing on a greatness that is defined by compassion, courage, perseverance, fortitude, and creativity.  Such as the greatness that Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, JFK and Gandhi displayed or the greatness of artists such as Picasso and Basquiat, or current thought leaders such as Thich Nhat Hanh.

It is scary to try and be great in this current world and current economy.  It is so easy to get caught up in how it appears and how your greatness looks to other people.  It is scary to think that if you are not making a certain amount of money or connected to the right people that have a certain status then others will not even deem you as being great.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I am changing my definition of greatness. On this journey toward greatness I will not define it by what I acquire but I will now define it by what and who I have been able to touch and change.  I thought I was doing that but I guess I was scared to totally let go and allow greatness to define me and not me define greatness.  For greatness never points toward the tangible, it always points toward that which can’t be seen but only felt.
 

Until we meet my friend may your dreams remain abound.