So...You Want to be Great

I have an honest and sincere confession to make...I want to be great.  I really do not wake up in the morning at ridiculously early times and say to myself, "Let's go do something mediocre today." Or, even better, "Hey, let's go be completely forgettable to everyone that we come in contact with today."  Whether it is as a husband, father, principal, son, friend, or mormon I want to be great at it. 

Now the reasons for this push (sometimes it is more like a subtle nudge) to be great are various and sundry and they are probably not what you are expecting.  You see, I do not want to be great for my sake.  I want to be great for three reasons:

1. The people in my life deserve greatness from me.  When I give less than I can (intentionally or unintentionally)  I cheat them.
2. Wanting to do great things and be great pushes me to live life, not survive life.  It forces me to be proactive and "blow up the box".  It drives me to leave comfort zones and constantly reflect on who I am vs. who I want to be.
3. It is ridiculous to build a mediocre life on the foundational belief that we are children of God.  Those two notions are mutually exclusive.  They cannot exist in the same being.  Where one is, the other cannot be.  If we are content with a mediocre life, then we have lost our testimonies of our divine heritage.  On the contrary, if we consistently remember who we are, then we will never be found settling for anything less than the path that leads to great things.

Point #3 reminds me of one of my favorite quotes.  It is written by Mary Ann Williamson, and was used by Nelson Mandela in his Inaugural Address in 1994 (also in a cool scene in Coach Carter):

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

At this point in the program, let me clearly state the obvious and say that I am not great.  Granted, all things are relative and I am so much farther on the road than when I started, but the fact is that there is still a long way to go.  There are times that the disconnect between who and what I want to be and who and what I actually am is frustrating and discouraging.  The reasons for the gap are many and perhaps that is a topic (or several topics) for another day and another post (Resource: "Your Potential, Your Privilege"), but there are two certainties: Everyday, I am either getting closer or moving farther away and my progress (or lack thereof) will be directly proportional to the degree that I apply the atonement of Jesus Christ in my life.

I found the following words in studying the life of a truly great modern day prophet of God, Howard W. Hunter and they speak comfort and patience to me as I strive to live great:

“There is no such thing as instant greatness. This is because the achievement of true greatness is a long-term process. It may involve occasional setbacks. The end result may not always be clearly visible, but it seems that it always requires regular, consistent, small, and sometimes ordinary and mundane steps over a long period of time. . . .

“True greatness is never a result of a chance occurrence or a one-time effort or achievement. It requires the development of character. It requires a multitude of correct decisions for the everyday choices between good and evil. . . .

“As we evaluate our lives, it is important that we look, not only at our accomplishments, but also at the conditions under which we have labored. We are all different and unique individuals. We have each had different starting points in the race of life. We each have a unique mixture of talents and skills. We each have our own set of challenges and constraints to contend with".

These words give me hope and help me to know that there is no shortcut to being great and doing great things.  In fact, the irony of greatness is that it is formed by the "ordinary and mundane steps over a long period of time".  Hopefully life will be long enough for me to get in enough "baby steps" to get there.