Lately, I’ve asking myself the question regarding so-called greatness. You see, like most people, one admires greatness. Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan and Mike Tyson are all great in their respective fields. And even though these individuals attained great success in their respective fields and seem to live (or to have lived) larger-than-life lifestyles, the sole evitable truth remains: they too are humans.
You see, almost everything that we have normalised around us is or was created by humans. The cell phone in our pockets, the chips in the phone, the governments, the laws and even the religion we believe in is or was a conception of one man’s imagination. I say almost everything cause the things we did not create are the stars in the skies, the trees, the birds and all the other elements of nature. And it is from nature that we learn more about our human behaviour.
It is somewhat a nihilist thought but I believe that we are insignificant in this world. If our brains did not evolve the way they did, to enable us to create tools from the resources we found in nature, I believe that as a species wouldn’t have survived in the wild. Not at all. Thus, to believe that we are destined for something great in this world, no we are not. Those who achieve greatness worked for their greatness.
And this is what finally answered my age-old question of why the rappers in my neighbourhood never blew up yet their peers in other neighbourhoods did. I remember how some of the local rappers attained local fame and they believed they had made it. Boy, do I remember them. They acted like they were Lil Wayne with Mr. Price backpacks, thinking they were the coolest and most successful rappers ever to grace the game. Yet, when I began to read and stories of other rappers from other neighbourhoods, I learned that they worked harder than these LAB niggas.
Yes, those rappers achieved local fame in their respective neighbourhoods but it seems they knew that there was more to the game. Yes, they started making some money but they knew that there was more. They worked hard on their craft to ensure that they succeeded.
I’m starting to believe that elements like luck are a poor man’s excuse for their winnings or even losing. Michael Jordan wasn’t lucky. Casper Nyovest wasn’t lucky. AKA wasn’t lucky. Lewis Hamilton wasn’t lucky. Yes, some of these guys like Lewis Hamilton, Micael Schumacher and someone like Tiger Woods, we might argue and say that their situations were favourable. They grew up in their respective sports and became good at it.
The flipside of the coin is that they still worked at it. Michael Schumacher is said that even as a young boy, he was very competitive and that in every kart race he entered, he wanted to win. I will never forget a documentary about Christiano Ronaldo before he became CR7. It was still when he was blossoming at Manchester United. Later in Christiano’s career, especially after he became CR7, the PR team started painting a narrative that he was also drawn into soccer and he always believed he was great. That documentary painted a different picture.
That documentary told a story of Christiano being not so good at soccer. In fact, he sucked. But what happened is that his friends pushed him. His friends made him ankle weights that we would wear to improve his speed. His friends pushed him to go to the various soccer trails and so forth. Christiano Ronaldo worked so hard on his game that he eventually became one of the best in the neighbourhood which eventually led to him being signed by a club in Portugal.
That is an example of a favourable environment where you have friends who will push you to be great. Unfortunately for us, most of us have friends who are comfortable with a mediocre life. They are comfortable with the crumbs that they collect on the ground.
Some of us are not content. Yes, I really believe that we are insignificant in the grand scheme of things. I mean, I implore you to delete social media for a month. All the platforms. I can tell you now that the people you thought care and worry about you, won’t notice your absence. Instead, the true ones who truly care and worry about you will take the time to call you to check whether you are okay. You are not as important as you’d love to believe.
This is quite important to understand. You see, the sun burns and warms the whole solar system. But in the grand scheme of things, scientists have found bigger and brighter suns across the known universe. There is nothing wrong with believing that you are insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Instead, it allows you to focus on what’s important in your life and pay greater attention to it.
That is why most of us are burning from employment. In our systems, we know that employment is not as important to us as say travelling the world. And this is somewhat a segway to go back to the point of greatness being something that is achievable.
If you want to lose weight, the rules are simple. Get your body moving and eat less. Get your body moving by perhaps taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Eat less by serving yourself on a smaller plate. And you will lose weight. Elements like having a diet and the gym will enter later but focusing on the basics will get you to your goal. That is what I mean by focusing on what’s important.
If you want to lose weight for the Gram, you won’t last on your weight loss journey. If you want to buy the new yoga pants and Nike shoes with the USN water bottle first, you won’t last in your weight loss journey. If your desire to lose weight stems out of the core of losing weight (which is to move more and eat less), you will not lose weight or you will not last in your weight loss journey. Simply because you are focusing on elements that are not important (like for likes on Instagram).
Yes, as you advance in your weight loss journey, there will come a time to enter the next level as going to the gym or taking on a diet. But when that happens, you have built a solid foundation for your weight loss journey that will also keep you grounded on what’s important.
As cliché as it sounds, most people look at the fruits of greatness. They see the women, the clothes and the money that come with greatness. They don’t see the stress. They don’t see the pain of discipline. They don’t see the betrayal from people closest to you. They don’t see the core foundations that the great ones build their greatness on.
If you look at Casper Nyovest, his greatness or success was not an accident. Casper Nyovest is said that he worked hard. He worked harder than everyone in the room. They say that he went to almost every available gig he could perform. It is said that Kendrick Lamar once performed to a group of 84. Most people will look at that and be discouraged. Another person will understand how that was the training grounds for these rappers.
Comedians, even the great ones like Kevin Hart and Dave Chappelle, say that before their main performances, they will test out their jokes in small comedy clubs. This, they say, allows them to closely see the reactions of the crowds and how they enjoyed the joke. All the jokes that they believe landed accordingly, they then take the joke to their main show. They continue focusing on what is important as a comedian: making funny jokes.
Now yes, one could say that’s all good and well. Think about the various kasi gents who play great soccer but are nowhere near being signed by the big teams. That one needs some ounce of luck to attain success. But what is luck? If a man plays soccer and wants to play for the PSL, isn’t wise for him to take every opportunity of every soccer trail?
Even if you are in a remote town in the Northern Cape, I believe that if you want something, the universe will create a path for you. But God is not mocked, you reap what you sow. So how then can this particular individual force a way for you to succeed?
Perhaps this individual can begin following soccer academies that he knows on social media. In between the fake gurus and Instagram baddies that he’ll never meet, he can begin following one or two soccer academies that usually have trials. The beauty of Instagram in this regard is that it will recommend to him similar accounts. This will broaden his search for a potential soccer trail he can attend.
Yes, his location is a massive disadvantage. But again, if this guy really wants to be a soccer player, he will find a way. Say he finds a trial that will happen in May, in Gauteng and it’s now January. He can calculate how much he needs to get to Gauteng. The mind only sees what you seek. That’s how the universe conjures paths for people. Research has proven that depressed people will see more negative events in the world and happy people will see more positive events in the world. So this individual will only see the possibility of going to the soccer trail if that’s what his mind is truly seeking.
And let’s say that it happens that he could not raise the money in time to go to the trial. He can do one or two things. One, blow the money. Or two, save it for another opportunity that might arise. Another person might say what if we include another variable that might hinder his path like strict parents. Then what?
Well, that one is difficult because I can argue that many people are not living their dreams because of their parents. If you look at most successful individuals, they found success in something they enjoyed as kids. And their parents supported them wholeheartedly. Most of us, unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. In their love and protection, they shut down our dreams for what they believed would work in our lives. Not realising they are selfish love destroyed our souls.
That is one tough cookie to crack. So for our would-be soccer player, if he has such parents he can one, disobey them and pursue his dream. Or two, sacrifice his dream to obey his parents. That is what makes it so difficult to achieve that which we desire because there are tough decisions that we need to make for our success. As insignificant as we may be, no matter how hard we work on the foundations, the moment we need to begin building, the difficulties of being great begin to manifest themselves.
However, if you want it bad enough, you will succeed. The soccer player might realise that it is difficult for him to travel from the Northern Cape to Gauteng so instead, with the money he has been saving up, he can buy equipment to begin a podcast reviewing PSL games and perhaps cover local stars in his neighbourhood. He might not be the soccer player he dreamed of becoming, but his love for the game will land him in another area of the game.
I believe we don’t want greatness. What we want is to live life doing what we love. I believe that’s what draws us to celebrities who found success. It seems they are engaged in what they love. What we love is simple. It is easy to point. We need only to focus on it. The mistake we make, we look at the fruits of success and not the seeds that produced them.
Seek ye the Kingdom of God, and these things will follow. Plant the seed and the harvest will follow. Seek that which allows you to create and enjoy every breath of life you introduce in your lungs. And all that you need to live will follow.
A simple yet extremely hard philosophy to follow.
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