Am I Destined for Greatness?

I get inspired whenever I hear anecdotes of people whom I look up to as successful. They've been there, done that and made it and are telling their stories, again and again. And each time, there's just this zest in them that you wonder where that came from, and stay amazed at what keeps them going.

In each of our worlds, we all have different heroic figures from whom our constant source of motivation comes from. Some we know personally, some we hear about them from afar. Some are still alive, some have departed. Be it near or from a distance, they are the ones who have blazed the trails for many to take courage and follow suit, to lay it all aside and pursue no-matter-what.

Have you ever wondered... were they destined for success and greatness right at the start? Have you thought... how about me? Am I destined for greatness? Could that be even possible?

No qualms that our heroic figures have worked hard, perhaps harder than most people to become who they are today. In our world view, they seem to just have it - that can-do attitude and never-say-die doggedness, honed through the numerous episodes of failures and hard knocks. Some secretly wished to have these traits overnight, or better still, just in their genes. I confess I do! Yet how wrong we are if we think that such an overcoming mentality and outlook can be simply inherited or easily gained!

In non-fiction book written by Malcolm Gladwell entitled Outliers: The Story of Success, Gladwell examines the factors that contribute to high levels of success. Throughout the publication, he repeatedly mentions the "10,000-Hour Rule", claiming that the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours.

Granted that hard work and endurance are the main ingredients in the recipe for success... In the same vein, I am of the opinion that it is not the outcome that makes one great or successful; it is the pursuit and setting of the heart for greatness that gives one the sparkle in their eye, the spring in their steps and a countenance that turns heads. For if the pursuit and setting of the heart is there, it's a matter of time the fruit of the labor comes... don't you think so?

Although one may not be another Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, I believe there are many unsung heroes who stand in the hall of fame, relentlessly pursuing their greatest potential. We can't quench or deny the desire to be great, to be successful, each in our own right, for that is how we are created. Dismissing the desire to be great will cause one to live life without zeal and thus go through motion in life. Life without a zeal... living-dead...that's not how it's supposed to be!

We are great when we are passionate about something and go hard after it - be it a goal in life or a dream. For believers of God, the fact that we can love God and continue to love Him makes us great. Think about it... we are successful if in our lives we love God wholeheartedly! For that is what we are made for - loving God... If you really understand this, it will propel you to love God even more!

Yes, we are all destined for greatness... Do you have a passion in your life? Find it, go for it and live it.

Carpe Diem!