August 9, 2024: What Price Greatness?
"No person is born great. Great people become great when others are sleeping." - African proverb
When we look around this great big beautiful world of ours, we can see that it is made up of many different types of people; different levels of ability, different levels of drive and ambition. Some of us are quite content to live average lives. We have no desire to excel or achieve greatness. The simple life is what we expect and strive for. Others of us have greater inner drive and are determined to live well; to achieve the good job, the big house, the nice automobile so that we can provide for our families in a more lavish way. Then there are those of us who want to shoot for the stars; to achieve heights only a rare few ever reach. These are our superstars. They are the ones who far surpass the accomplishments of most people in their chosen fields.
They seem driven to leave their mark on this wonderful world of ours; to leave a legacy of greatness. The concept to be clear about, is that regardless of which level of achievement we choose to pursue, there is a price to be paid. The hourglass for each day only holds enough sand for 24 hours. Each of us decides how to allocate our daily sand. Family time requires some, career building time takes up some, rest uses up some of it, as does whatever other activities we are involved in. Finding just the right allocation balance for family, self and career is our constant challenge. Our personal life priorities will determine which segment of our life is going to pay the price for the others to be successful. A near perfect balance is possible, but not easily achieved.
© 2024 Detroit Flanagan
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