Don’t try to be something but instead be that thing. Photo/gstatic.comWe are living in a world manifested by greatness everywhere we go. Inventions by scientists that changed the world from the lights to the internet. This arouses an urge in us to also reach for greatness. Do something that will change the world. We are all searching for that billion dollar idea to work on that will transform lives.
The world is a global village due to great innovations that made connectivity possible, everyone is now encouraged to think globally as a way of making mother earth a better place. Greatness should encourage growth. Just the thought of it should make us want to be better but with all these greatness, we should be developing at a faster rate than our predecessors.
That’s not the reality on the ground because there exists a darker side to greatness, the side that says Don’t Try.
The determination to be great also creates the fear of not being great. This fear of not being good enough deter us from attempting anything in case we are labeled as failures. It’s when you have something to prove that you are afraid to move. In our efforts to be great, we are paralyzed by the unknown outcomes and uncertainty that suppresses our creativity. Reaching for greatness is settling for mediocrity in the presence of fear.
That may be one reason Bukowski said Don’t Try.
It’s when you’re not trying to be the best that you become the best. When you are not afraid of losing that you are winning. This is because great ideas are created in a settled mind and heart free of fear and worry. They say pressure makes diamonds in an effort to encourage us to work under pressure. This results in us missing out on our moments of serendipity which requires a relaxed state of mind. That is how the force of gravity was discovered by Isaac Newton.
Greatness is a process, it’s the small things we do that snowballs into life-changing inventions and discoveries. Never be scared to be anything you want to be because you feel you are not great. Remember you do not have to be great to start but you have to start to be great. Don’t try to be something but instead be that thing and someday people will call you great.