When The Glory Is Gone, What Have You Achieved?

“What is your greatest achievement?”

It’s a tricky question we tend to ask ourselves quite a lot in private, and a question too awkward for most of us to answer in public. In truth, whether it be a private or public conversation is immaterial, because when the query strikes, we all come to sense a common mutual feeling—that flustered and slightly uncomfortable feeling churning inside our bellies as we hastily debate in silence whether the level of success of our endeavors is ever good enough to mention.

Our minds scramble in the efforts of sorting out an answer impressive enough to save ourselves from sounding severely underwhelming.

Yes, that feeling—you know what I’m talking about. That feeling we try to put off with nervous laughter. But seriously, what is our greatest achievement?

We can attain fame, money, career, ambition, have what we think may be the greatest love, friends, children, marriage, and just possibly every treasured thing on this planet, but if all that were to be stripped away from us and all we had left was our being, can we still proudly pat ourselves in the back and proclaim that we’ve still achieved something in our lives?

You see, I believe that the greatest achievement of man is when man becomes of use to a much bigger cause than solely their own. Oftentimes, we get too caught up with our own world, our own problems, and our own happiness that we forget that there is a much bigger world out there, with much bigger problems and no happiness at all.

I firmly believe that we are all conduits of the Lord’s blessing, and we should share that blessing to benefit the people who need it the most, no matter how little of significance we think it may be.

Now, I’m not saying you have to be a philanthropist or an activist to make that difference, but I am saying that you can start out by being a good person. Be an example, encourage people to be kind and compassionate among one another, both alike and different from you. Release yourselves from the chains of complacency, pray not only for your own genuine peace, but for the troubled souls who seek refuge but can not find one. 

This may not make the headlines, but trust me, it WILL go a long way, and it all began because you decided to be good.