By: Chioma Madonna Ndukwu
“One day it will be better”, is a wise saying that has never worked for anybody who folds his or her arms. In everyone’s life there is an innate desire to achieve purpose. To expect a reward for doing nothing is fraud and until there is a problem you can solve, you are not really needed. A man can be stupid but not a crowd. Where the carcasses are, the eagles gather. No wonder people keep drumming it “follow who knows road”. It was Fela Durutoye, a Nigerian motivational speaker and one time presidential candidate who submitted, “Great men are men who have solved problems for the greatest number of people”. Competence and excellence are like magnets, attracting people, opportunities and resources. Life of legacy must be lived with the end in mind.
That you have money doesn’t mean you are impactful/great. How much money did Mother Theresa have? How much money did Mandela have? Money pursues greatness. From the good book (Holy Bible) Mk 9:5, we learn that a great man is a man who serves people. The key to greatness is the mindset/heart of service not the service in particular. The value of your life is not determined by how much you have gotten but how much you have lent to humanity. (Matt 23:11)
The story of Alfred Nobel lives on to highlight the significance of living a life of purpose. The man Alfred was born in Sweden in 1833, he spent his early years in Russia with the father. He had wanted to become a writer but his father thought otherwise. He later became a chemist, engineer, businessman and a philanthropist. He created powerful explosives known as “dynamite” and “gelignite”, thinking it would be used to scare wars by reason of its frightful efficacy, thereby benefiting mankind as he so much abhorred war, but the reverse became the case. On a fateful day, the unexpected happened. It was Alfred’s obituary prominently featured in the newspaper and he was unpleasantly described as a man “who became rich by finding a way to kill more people faster than ever”, in otherwise “a merchant of death”. Alfred was challenged healthwise but it was actually his elder brother that died.
This was a major slip-off by French press service who mistakenly took Alfred’s late brother for Alfred. The incident had a huge impact on his life as he got disheartened by the way people perceived him and he resolved to change that stigma. This sole sober reflection birthed what we all know as “Nobel prize” in literature, science and peace. He also wrote poetry and drama while advocating for world’s peace. Alfred Nobel is a beautiful representation of a servant of mankind. He chose to be remembered not as a “Merchant of Death” but as an “Advocate of Peace”.
Greatness to me is not just being “markedly superior in character and quality or being markedly skilled” like Merriam Webster submitted, but much more rising above your surrounding limitations harnessing your potentials and serving humanity with it.
Trust this read was worth your time. Keep a date with me for more mind blowing stories on greatness.
