To be great at anything is a choice.
Last night I was talking with my son and he reminded me of something I told him years and years ago: that to be great at anything is a choice. (And, unfortunately, that mediocrity, sneaks up when you are least expecting it and just takes over before you realize it has globed all over you, like you’re stuck in quicksand.)
If we look hard enough, and for some of us, not too hard at all, we will find that we each have incredible God given talents. Talents which give each of us the opportunity to be truly and uniquely ”great” at something in our lifetime. Perhaps it is not something which will make us millions, maybe it will. Perhaps it will save a life, or maybe it will win a soul. Perhaps it will find a cure for some deadly disease or be that never ending ray of sunshine that always seems to come through and brighten the lives of those around us when they are at their wits end or maybe when they wish it was their final breath. It may be as an NFL or NBA super star, but more likely is may be the ability to teach a child to learn (if only that it is valuable and worth our time and love) or it may be to encourage an adult that he or she is not too old to learn to read, even at 60, or 70 or even at anytime before death. Yes, to be great is a choice.
Unfortunately, all too often, we instead choose not to try. We sense our gifts, but we try harder to cease the clamor of their call than we make the small effort it takes to answer it. For the degree of effort between mediocrity and “greatness” is often very little indeed. It can be as easy as keeping your mind active and your body moving. It can take only getting up and off the couch: turning off the tv, at least for a few hours a day, if only for even a few days a week. It can be as easy as asking questions and then actually listening to the answers. Did you hear me? I said: In honestly listening to the answers; in caring by paying attention and truly listening to what other people think, care about and are trying to tell you and to have you understand.
It can be as easy as continuing to learn more about and practice your instinctive, natural, God-given talent; like an ability to play the piano, sing, paint, teach, run, swim, or even preach or practice law. All of this takes practice. Greatness can come as instinctively as showing patience, kindness, respect and empathy. It can be as effortless as a smile.
So, today choose Greatness! Start with a smile, then practice, even if it is to smile often. And commit to making the effort to be the best “you” who God made you to be!!!
Start Now!! Choose Greatness!
February 16th, 2010 at 10:33 am
Hi Valorie,
That is such an inspiring entry. Thanks for posting that.
Have you ever considered writing a book?