When a child is born, the parents starts to dream. The dream of a mother that her child is going to become a great man one day. Bringing a new life in this world, for most people, always goes on to become the only way left to fulfill all their dreams and desires that they haven’t been able to achieve in life themselves. A reason for people to hope again. A hope and a distant dream that I couldn’t be someone but my child would be. Thus, starts the hope and expectation towards showcasing the greatness of a man.
So, a pertinent question at this juncture would be – What makes a man great? What contributes to the greatness of a man?
When the child grows up a little bit, the dream is passed on to his psyche by the environment. Remember your childhood days. Haven’t you dreamt of being a great doctor or an astronaut or a movie icon and spent hours in the attic visualizing yourself being the most famous man on Earth? Day dreamt about instances where you walk down the road and everyone bows down in respect or mothers pointing you out to their kids shouting ‘See there goes the great…’.Feel overwhelmed at how proud your parents would be about you at that time? Be honest, haven’t you? All of us have. But has it ever occurred to that what according to you makes a man great?
What makes a man great?
If you pose this question to people, the most common and popular answers give the pointers as to what society thinks of greatness in man. These pointers include:
- Fame – A man becomes great when he becomes famous all over the world, when everyone knows his name and who he is.
- Wealth – A man becomes great when he becomes the richest in the world. Accumulates more money than anyone can imagine.
- Action – A man becomes great when he does something that nobody else has or could, something unique, a discovery perhaps.
If you think about these answers, it reflects two things. Firstly, you need to do something out of the world and become worldwide famous for being a great man. And second, you need to accumulate something more than others, either fame or wealth, in order to become greater.
Greatness in the world vs. greatness within the self:
Cant a man be great in his own sphere of life, without being a world known figure that everyone bows down to? Are fame and wealth so crucial for being termed great? Think about it. The answer is a big resounding NO.
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively. And that, solely that ability defines whether a person is great or not. You become great not by accumulating things for yourself, but if you can make a positive change in the life of others.
All of us are born to live the lives destined for us and all of us try to make the best of it. So what’s the difference? It is when you live for others that make you different. It is when you bring smiles to those around you when your greatness resonates in their hearts. And it doesn’t matter whether it is ten people or ten thousand people but it is that resonance and the vibration that you create in the hearts of others around you that defines whether you are great or not.
Thus, a person in a small remote village in one distant corner of the world who starts the village school can be a great man with his integrity and ability to make positive changes to his fellow beings. He is great in his own right without being internationally famous or without having accumulated wealth at all.
The path towards greatness:
The path towards attaining greatness is simple yet extremely tough. What one needs to do is to change his thought processes to start with. Start with your day to day actions. In work, in behavior and change your own life positively. This effects other’s lives as well and how they perceive you. Once you start doing this you will be filled with positivity in your own life and those around you and in return when you get respect, love, admiration and warmth, you would want to do more. And then when you do more for others around you, you will truly become great, in their eyes, in your own eyes and in the eyes of all around.
Greatness in Action / Behaviour:
The first step is to ask yourselfthree things before you do or say anything. These are:
- Is what I’m doing or saying the truth?
- Is it beneficial for all concerned?
- Does it bring about any positive change to the life of all concerned?
Asking these three questions to all your actions or words and stopping yourself from doing or saying it if you get even one answer as a ‘No’ is the way to becoming a great man. The first question always guarantees integrity on your part. And coming to the second and third questions, if you take the pledge that you wouldn’t do or say anything that hurts someone else, or doesn’t bring any positive changes, you will slowly see the change in you. Gradually you’d come to realize how worthless most of our actions or words usually are in life.
Think about it, our lives are wasted away in accumulating wealth and fame for ourselves and more so by downtrodding on others. Is that greatness? Does it or can it ever make you a real man? A man who has integrity? Does it make you a man who can stand up for himself or for others? No, it doesn’t. Society may have tuned in to you the definition of ‘success’ as being wealthy and famous. But one is truly successful when he can find real happiness and inner peace for himself. And that can only be achieved by way of real integrity and affecting others around you positively. Ultimately, the best feeling that you can get out of life is the feeling that ‘Yes, I have made a difference’.
