Greatness

Greatness seems to be a term that is giving the world food for thought at the moment. It seems that we can see what it is not, however, it seems harder to define what is.

The thesaurus gives us many synonyms for ‘greatness’:
Distinction, illustriousness, repute, high standing; importance, significance; celebrity, fame, prominence, renown; and also: genius, prowess, talent, expertise, mastery, artistry, virtuosity, skill, proficiency; flair, finesse; caliber, distinction.

Just going through the list, it seems clear that each and every one of these words are aspects of ‘greatness’ without being a full definition of it. In a sense they are therefore not true synonyms.

Over the last number of days I have been thinking about ‘greatness’ and what constitutes it.
And to me, true greatness is not defined by a description, but rather has to do with a state of being.

No doubt this state of being is formed by any number of virtues and can be described by any number of the terms listed above. But true greatness is something that has to do with who we are, not what we are.

This then implies that we don’t have to be rich, or even a virtuoso. We don’t need to be a celebrity or important in any way shape or form. Ultimately we ‘just need to be ourselves’. But then being ourselves at the very highest level we can attain!
Again, this doesn’t mean operating in a very high energy, or doing very special things. It means doing those things that we like doing best ~ the things we are passionate about ~ to the very best of our ability…

In doing so, we may find that other people seek us out, we may even gain a certain level of celebrity. Yet those things are in a sense a side effect of our personal greatness. We don’t need them to show off our greatness, they happen as a result of how we are perceived.

Greatness comes with an understanding as to who we are, and a sense of feeling secure in being who we are. Perhaps even a belief that we are exactly who we are meant to be!
And with that there is no longer a need to diminish others, to point fingers, or to make others ‘wrong’ in any way.

True greatness is peaceful, encouraging, loving. It illuminates and shares. And often it sings and dances and spreads joy!

And perhaps the best things is that when we aspire greatness in our own lives, it can be right at our fingertips…
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