GREATNESS (A-Z April Blog Challenge)

I didn’t recognize it as “greatness” when I was in elementary school.  What I did recognize were the kids around me who stood out.  The ones who made a difference.  They were the athletes, the ones in dance recitals and who won the spelling bee.  They were the students with perfect attendance for the year and who got singled out at the end of the year assembly for their outstanding character. 

They moved onto middle school and talked about being rocket scientists, doctors or lawyers.  They were going to join the Peace Corp and save a village or two along the way.  They were the lead in the school play, the solo in the band concert and played on the sports team a year or two above their actual age.

In high school they were going to be the next Carl Sagan, develop a cure for cancer, or rock the financial world.  They carried 4.0 averages and had their college futures mapped out.  They worked internships and helped the coach manage their sports team.  They were president of the school clubs, student government and active in the leadership of their local church.  In their spare time they volunteered in soup kitchens, raised money for the poor and organized blood drives. 

You get the picture.  They were always moving, always motivated and always making a difference. One step led inevitably to another.   

It was GREATNESS.  They marked their territory in the world and felt no limits. 

And that was great. For them; but not for me.  Because along with that Greatness, came the attention, the recognition and the expectation of it all continuing. I looked at them and felt exhausted.  When would it be enough?  I absolutely applauded what they’d done and admired the initiative, passion and energy it took to do what they did.  I just never felt capable of it and definitely steered clear of anything that made me stand out in a crowd.  I liked doing good things, but in my own way, in my own time and as much behind the scenes as I could.  I got to be quite good at blending into the background – flying under the radar, figuring out how to be me so that I could do good things, just not THAT good. 

Over the years I wondered what drove people and why I felt lacking.  Why didn’t I have the motivation to be doing GREAT things with my life? 

And then, as I became more comfortable with my own self and the life I’d built, the answer came.  Because we’re unique.  We can’t all be Albert Einstein, Mother Theresa, Stephen Hawking, or Joyce Carol Oates.  And no one else can be Amy Morgan.  I’m here to do the best I can at being me.  An organizer, a worker bee, a writer, a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister and a friend.

William Shakespeare wrote: “Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve greatness, and other have greatness thrust upon them.”

Morgan Greatness in Triplicate!

We all have a measure of Greatness within us.  I’m a loner and I’ve set the boundaries of my life pretty close at hand.  And within those boundaries, I try to do Great things.  To make a difference in the people’s lives I touch.  To be honest, loving and giving.  That’s my Greatness.  And it’s enough.