Everyone has greatness in them, its just a matter of finding it. Ever since I was 12 I have always been told how great I am, or how great I can become. But greatness doesn't come from you sitting on your couch, or watching tv, greatness comes from doing something. A lot of people are scared to do something new.
When in fact the only reason people are scared to do something new is because they might fail.
When I was in government every paper I would right had a chance of being DAed, which means Do Again. It was very upsetting to me because I viewed DA more as a F, when in fact it is the teachers way of helping you achieve greatness. And it wasn't like we had to do the whole paper over again, it was some spots we had to smooth out, a sentience that didn't flow right, a line that didn't make sense, little things, that when I looked at it I saw "your not good enough, do it again." when really it meant "that was wonderful, but it will be even better once you fix these couple things."
As the quote above says
"Some are born great." What does that mean?
I think it mean that that there are those born with the ability to do something. Like a sport, or a painting. They have the eye or the strength to do it. Maybe the painter can't play basketball or the Basketball player struggles with the paint brush. There are many great man and women in history who were born great, Queen Elisabeth, Galileo, etc. They all had the knack for something that they were born with. I was born great in creating things, I can look at a dress and figure out how they made it, I can sew. I have been sewing since I was little, I have a natural knack for it, but for others its a real struggle to sew and create.
"Some achieve greatness."
Here is a
quote from an article I found on a man named Heber J. Grant
"Young Heber absorbed and perfected this attitude. He grew up believing that there was no reason why he, with the help of the Lord, could not accomplish anything he made up his mind to do. He often quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson: “That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased.” (Quoted in Conference Report, April 1901, page 63.)
And Heber J. Grant practiced what he preached.
He loved to tell about the many hours he spent learning to throw a baseball so he could be accepted on the top team. He told about struggling to improve his penmanship so it would represent him well; his handwriting was later considered unusually beautiful. From the pulpit, he extolled the singing of the hymns of the Church as a marvelous way to worship. He had made great efforts to learn many of the hymns by heart and could sing them without mistakes—even though he seemed to have no natural gift for music."
Here is a quote of the mind set of some of the people today.
"Some people find many reasons for not doing things in life. Some don’t want to work. Some excuse their way out of family responsibilities. Some claim to be too tired, ill, busy, poor, or self-conscious to help others. Some want to use their talent only for bigger, “more important” things. There are those who are content to let somebody else do what needs to be done, and others who simply talk endlessly about love or peace or service."
With the mind set of the second quote no one will want to do anything today. I have experienced the sad mind set of to days youth, not only are they lazy, they don't know how to do things. There have been many times where I have done or said something and the youth next to me start complaining because they might have to lift a finger. the parents and teachers of today have taught the youth of today not to work and to think little of themselves, they don't try to teach their kids right from long, and they teach the youth not to be great, they teach them to not work and that everything will be given to them. I'm not saying this is ever kid in the US, but most of them yes.
I was talking with a friend and I asked my friend why he wasn't in school. He told me the only way he would go back to school was if he didn't have to pay and it was free like public school. That's so sad, I can think of so many things he could do to make himself greater, but hes not willing to put the time and money into it. I personally don't care if I have money or not, there is a library down the street and its free, there are so many things you can learn in a book, or on youtube watching How Things Are Made, and other things like that, but a lot of the youth don't care if they are smart or have a good job. And they aren't willing to work.
I love Heber J. Grant, because he shows you that you can be great, and yes it does take a little work, but isn't that better? You get so much more out of something if you put something into it. I have things given to me free, and I don't care much for it. But if I work towards something I feel like I have accomplished so much more then if I had gotten it free.
Heber J. Grant didn't care how long it took to accomplish something, as long as he had the Lord on his side he knew he could do it. He didn't see problems as problems, he saw them as hurdles he had to get over. In the quote describing how he accomplished things, it said he struggles, not that he went to the store and bought a new pen that made it so he could write better, but that he struggled to get his penmenship readable, and then to beautiful. All things are accomplished with a little struggle. Some things may take a day, and others years, but if you set your mind to you can accomplish it.
Here is one of my favorite quotes by Thomas Edison
“Opportunity is missed by most people
because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
This quote has always stuck with me, its a wonderful quote, and is true in many ways, but it makes you stop and think. Are you someone who misses the opportunity's?
"Other have greatness thrust apon them"
I have been in some cercomstances where I had to stand up and take charge, even if people didn't want me to do it, it had to be done.
Where a leader was needed but no one would stand up. Its really scary taking a stand, or having greatness thrust apon you.
I think a good example of some one who was thrust into greatness was Goerge Washington, he didn't want to be in the war, but because of what he had studyed and knew, he was thrust into the war, which he enjoyed sometimes, but he didn't like the boodshed it caused. He led the nation with virtue and integrity. But I think the greatesnt thing he led with was God, he prayed a lot. He trusted the Lord, and knew that the Lord would guide him in whatever he needed.
I think the biggest thing to remember is that the only way you will reach greatness is with the power of God. You may think that it is your gift of being tall or having an eye for color and detail. But you need to remember who gave you that gift and who made you the way you are. You need to thank the Lord for your greatness and ask him to help you.
George Washington is one of the greastest men in history, and he only accomplished that greatness with God.
Here are a couple quotes by him.
"Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the
rest is in the hands of God."
"It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible."
