Greatness: What It Is

  Greatness is not a destination, it's a journey;

         That it is not achieved by some is really a calamity,

         For the many having soon settled for just that spot

         Revel in delusion, underachievement their lot.

Greatness is not a moment; it's a lifetime,

A sojourn in which our talents are refined;

But happy with a moment we refuse to move

And the rest of our life is spent in that groove.

Greatness is not a step; it's a walk,

A walk far more impressive than just mere talk;

While it begins with a step, it is certainly far more

So settle for the step and life becomes a bore.

Greatness is not a threat; it's an opportunity,

A chance to see the good in both you and me;

But knocked off our feet by them that opposed,

We lay on the ground; that’s the way we chose.

Greatness is not an accident; it's a design,

It is not automatically ours as some may opine,

It will come to them who give to life their all,

To all those who dare to get up after every fall.

Greatness is not a selfish desire; it's a sacrificial determination,

Yet many traverse life’s course on their own selfish run,

Never lifting a hand to give help to the needy

Yet, expecting all and sundry to subscribe to their fantasy.

 

Greatness is not an advent; it's an adventure,

For advents and events quickly change to a blur

But life with its thrills, its many spills and cares

Is a real adventure; there’s nothing that compares.

Greatness is not a pose for the camera; it's a posture to maintain,

It is more than a Kodak moment that the mind may regain,

It is a stance and good character upon which one is bent,

More than a picture of the past that one views in the present.

Greatness is not a measurement; it's a management,

Comparing ourselves to others is rather delinquent,

Accountability to God for every God-given talent

Should rest upon each of us as being critically important.

 

 

Greatness is not ever ending; it's never ending,

A life of godly purpose that’s ever engaging,

Buoyed in spite of life challenges and full of spirit,

The Eternal God our source, our life, His remit.

Greatness is not a qualification; it's a quality,

I strive for the former; the latter is given to me;

Certification will help and one may be employed

But in the final analysis quality fills the void.

Greatness is not a mark; it's a standard,

A mark when eclipsed will seldom be remembered,

However, a standard when set is a record for all

In which greatness resonates with its clarion call.

Stewart Russell © 2013