A person is great when he/she is able to command respect from others.Who are the people who can be considered great and worthy of admiration?
An individual can reach great heights by dint of sheer hard work in his/her chosen field.Some people may be great academically.Some may become great sports personalities.Others may be great artists.For some,it is success in business or corporate life which gives them power and money.Such people command respect because of their expertise in their particular fields.
Artists and sports persons are idolized because of their art and sports acumen respectively.Those in academia and research are revered for their knowledge about their fields of study.Each of them have their own followers who think highly of them.However,for such people the adoration and affection is based on the knowledge or expertise they have.The veneration is for their talent and not for the individual.
There are others-politicians,businessmen and corporate honchos.Mostly,they are acclaimed for the power they wield and the money they possess.Again,here the appreciation is for their authority and clout.Such recognition is often mixed with a sense of fear about the harm that they might be able to inflict.Not only that,the acclaim they get from others is also mixed with a tinge of jealousy and disgust.
No amount of education,talent,money or power can make a person great.We have seen instances of highly educated persons being charged with dowry harassment cases,talented artists indulge in drunken driving,powerful politicians getting entangled in dirty scams.Doctors indulging in unethical practices,engineers colluding with government-contract mafia,businessmen bribing their way out and having undeclared income...list is endless.It is not that the rich,powerful and successful always follow the right path.
The people who are really worthy of admiration and respect are the ones who have a strong character, a loving heart and a compassionate soul.They need not be highly talented or earning in millions,but they are the people who will come and stand next to you when you have a problem.They are the people who do not falter from the path of honesty. Such people are the ones who will command real respect from the bottom of people's heart.Such people are the ones who can be considered really great.
Movie stars and Politicians may come and go.Sports persons and Nobel laureates may abound.But the ones who are remembered across generations and respected across cultures are people like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
At the end of the day,what makes a person truly great is his/her character.Nothing less.Nothing more.A person's sense of morality and empathy makes him/her become a great human being.
This post is dedicated to all such selfless souls in this world.May God Bless them.May God also bless this earth with more kindred souls like them.
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Day 13 of Ultimate Blogging Challenge
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