The Fundamental Questions of Greatness “A 1000 mile road begins with a single step, freedom’s begins with a scream calling for a battle, but the greatness road begins with a question ignites the spark of the change.” 1 We all want to be called greats. The major and common motivations of creativity nowadays are the desire of self-satisfaction and the feeling of being great. That feeling is what drives most people to worship the creative abilities they may have; and that’s why we are talking about the greatness here. Of course, there are many other motivations for creativity, but the seeking of greatness is the major real one, especially in the case of those keeping themselves busy all the time trying to enhance their own creative abilities. And here it’s the time when we should ask the reasonable question.
What Is The Real Greatness? Unfortunately, a wrong understanding for the concept of greatness became more common with time, and the whole concept has been summarized to be based on the satisfaction of personal desires, individual purposes, and the bright appearances of glory. In more simple words, the concept of greatness became confined in the dream of being a famous star, politician, and/or rich one; and the fantasy of being the center of the world that everything roams around became more admired.
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Ammar Moussa, A Trip Beyond The Peak – (1) New One
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The missed part here is that preceding being an honor the real greatness in fact tends to be a duty; it tends to be a verb much more than being an adjective. Greatness is something we perform and practice. People are not great by default, or by what they own or how they look. They are great just because of what they do and how they behave. The real serious questions here are:
What are your real motivations for being great?
Is it just in the sake of fame, wealth, and power? Or there is something bigger or more essential?
Do your motivations fully harmonious with your own ethics? Can you live in peace with them? Or there are conflicts?
The answers of these questions are what make the difference between the real greats and the fake ones. Anyway, it’s a fact that most fires starts by a tiny spark, and the fire of our real greatness starts by a spark departs from that small corner in our souls where the conscience still whispers. Yes, real greatness is strongly bonded with our souls, conscience, and ethics. When the greatness idea became equivalent just to an empty appearance and not belongs anymore to the enhancement of tomorrow’s life for the whole society, then we should turn the red lights on and warn ourselves that we are moving in the wrong direction. You should always keep in mind that the faith and hope of better future for you and all those around you are the major supplies you may need in your own greatness trip. 2
“www.TheGreatness.Me” is the place where you might find the answers you need. It is not a link for a website on internet as the one might think for the first while. It’s a link for a site inside you, where you can find the answers for the most important questions about the greatness. However, if you still have troubles reaching and navigating that page inside you, then perhaps you should send few questions to the customer service clients within your heart on: “
[email protected]”. Now, it’s the turn of the hard question.
Is It Easy to Be a Real Great? Actually, this question is not from that type where the answer could be simply “Yes” or “No” because simply both answers could be correct depend on many variables. A more complex reason that makes answering that question a complex mission is that moving to be a real great involves a real serious change; and change is a continuous process that never stops; it happens all the time whether we accepted or declined, and all what we can do is trying to guide the process along the road, trying to keep it in the right direction, and have some control over the strength, the speed and the intensity in which the change is happening. Actually, that guiding and controlling is what we call the process of “Personal Development”. Personal Development is not a binary process where the result can be only “Success” or “Fail”; it’s a process of multilevel success, and each step toward the right direction is a success by itself that worth the effort.
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The final result of success remains depend on achieving the minimum accepted level or what we can call “The Critical Level of Success”, and the only one who can judge that is “You”, when you hear that voice whispering in your heart “You did it”. So, perhaps it’s better to rephrase the question into more effective and practical form. Is It Possible For Anyone to Be a Real Great? Here the answer is clear and simple: “Yes”. Greatness is not a property for certain people; teachers, authors, merchants, doctors, engineers, officers, politicians, carpenters, plumbers, even cleaners and office boys; each one of them can be a great; each one of them has his own role in life, and each one is a great only when he does his role with creativity and sincerity. But, it’s always up to you - and only you - to make the first step in that road; if you were not initiative enough then perhaps you will keep waiting for that one who may - or may not - give you the first push; and probably you will keep waiting till the end of your life. That starting step could only happen when the real honest will is found. Then, the startup jump should be the revision of your own personal set of ethics, knowledge, thoughts, and behaviors. It’s the law of self-change that Almighty Allah said about in The Nobble Quran2 “Allah does not change what a people have until they change what is in themselves.”3
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The Noble Quran ( )القرآن الكريمis the holy book of Muslims. The Noble Quran – Surat Al-Raad – Ayah 11 : The original Arabic source said: 11 سورة الرعد – آية- القرآن الكريم
ْ ُ ّ َ ُ َّ َ ۡ َ َ ُ ّ َ ُ َ َ َّ َّ ُ َ ٰ ﴿ إِن ٱَّلل َل يغ ِّي ما بِقو ٍم ح ﴾س ِه ۡم ِ ّيوا َما بِأنف ِ َّت يغ
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Once you pass your first few milestones in that revision, you will be ready for the next step, where you can identify clearly your targets with inner peace. Then, only one person who will know what the next step should be; that person is “You” and again “Only You”. Sometimes all what it needs is just to start; sometimes we just need to make that first move and then follow up. I’ll borrow here a small simple story and few words from the famous journalist Asaad Taha4; that story expresses in simple and clear words what I’m trying to tell you here. In one of his articles Taha said: “One day I wanted to study, I spent most of the day preparing the room, the desk, the papers, and the atmosphere; finally I just got tired and fall sleep. Don’t ever do like what I did that day; planning is important, but sometimes it’s paralyzing. Just do it; just begin; some battles in this life need you just to start, and then later fix your path while you are on the road. Don’t wait a support from anyone; don’t wait perfect givens and circumstances. Dream is just like love, it’s not waiting for delays or stalling, it’s just simply like that. And you know where the problem is? We simply don’t do it, and the worst is we keep complain that we never reach or get what we want; for god’s sake, how could we arrive if we already didn’t begin.”5
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Asaad Taha (1956, -) Egyptian Journalist and writer, a famous reporter of Al-Jazeera Channel. Asaad Taha, “How Could We Arrive If We Already Didn’t Begin? (Article), The Huffington Post.
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Hit the trigger, ignite the spark, then go and you will find your way; but always keep the balance between Planning & Improvisation, or between Expectations & Adaptation. But, let me be honest with you here. As a matter of fact, during the trip you will face for sure a lot of situations where you will need to be wise and pick the right choices, and find the solutions by yourself. You will have to face those situations with enough courage and readiness to face the consequences whatever they are; and you should pass the hard moments with a solid determination and a faith that you will arrive for sure one day no matter how much time it will take. Simply, let’s say that you should always carry in your suitcase the five vitamins of greatness: Courage, Determination, Faith, Proactivity, and Wisdom; and never forget to take your daily dose of them every morning and whenever you need them.
The Five Vitamins of Greatness6 If you have read about The Post-Peak Model, then I guess you can easy understand this simple illustration for the greatness road.
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Ammar Moussa, A Trip Beyond The Peak – (1) New One
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