A quote from a movie stuck with me: "For some, greatness is thrust upon them." It had me thinking about what is greatness. Is greatness the soldier who saves his comrades' lives by throwing himself upon an explosive device? Is greatness the religious leader who lays down his life for his beliefs as did ancient and modern day prophets? Is greatness fighting for a cause even when one knows it is lost?
All of the above are examples of greatness. Yet greatness is and can be more. Greatness is the father who gets up and goes to work every day to provide for his family. Greatness is the mother who tenderly cares for her disabled child even when that child is an adult. Especially when that child is an adult. Greatness is the grown man lovingly tending his mother who suffers from dementia, as my brother-in-law Rolf did.
Greatness comes in all shapes and sizes. Greatness comes when ordinary people do extraordinary things. Greatness comes when ordinary people do ordinary things day after day simply because they must be done.
So, for today, I am grateful for ordinary people who do ordinary things with greatness.
You mean like, say, keeping a public gratitude journal for an entire year even when you don't feel like it?
ReplyDeleteWhy is it that people who are doing truly great things usually don't see it?