Aspiring to Greatness

I just finished watching an interview with Captain Chesley Sullenberger where they talked about the "Miracle on the Hudson" as well as what his life has been like over the last 9 months, since the accident. Yesterday, when digging through papers looking for my DD-214 discharge form from the Army, I came across several photos from around 20 years ago. I posted these photos on my Facebook page and have probably looked at them a couple dozen times since then. They bring back such a flood of memories, both good and bad. That part of my life was so long ago.

As I'm counting the days to my 50th birthday, things like the photos and the interview cause me to think about what I have and have not done in my life. They cause me to think about success and greatness and then I try to take my measure. It's really not the most fun exercise I've undertaken recently. I see so many people who have accomplished so many great things in their lives (at least, great by my standards) and it kind of gets to me.

Then I remember a very smart boss I once had, Dr. Cynthia Wike, who used to tell her people, when they were having a bad day, "OK, you've got 15 minutes to whine and feel sorry for yourself. Then you're done and you need to get back to work."

Thinking about Dr. Wike's words, I know we have to remember the past and pay it our respects, but then move on with life. I think the point should be to aspire to greatness, not in the sense of fame or fortune, but as human beings. How many lives have we touched, how many people have we helped, how much service have we provided to God and to our fellow humans? We also have to remember that when we fail (and we will, repeatedly), we do not give up like a bunch of losers. We can have our whine time and then get back to it because we are not quitters and the causes to which we aspire never stop, never wane.

Well, my 15 minutes are up. I need to get back to work now.

Failure to Failure

"Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." ~ Winston Churchill.

There are a million quotes on success and failure. Pretty much all of them refer to how people can't have success without failure, that failure is part of learning and growing. Then, of course, less positive quotes exist, quotes like from the latest season opener of "House, M.D." when House says to his psychiatrist, "Successes only last until someone screws them up. Failures last forever." That's harsh.

I love the Churchill quote. It makes so much sense when things are going well for in people's lives. However, I understand the quote House makes because people can feel that way when they're experiencing tough times.

I think one can argue some validity for either quote...IF a person chooses to accept that kind of attitude. It's really about the attitude and outlook someone adopts.

Since people have choices on what path they will take, why not choose to take the positive one? House's psychiatrist replied to him, "You acknowledge failure and then you move past it."

That's key, too. The doctor didn't say to ignore failure. He said to acknowledge it, think about it, learn from it...and then let it go. Human beings will always make mistakes. That's the nature of being human. The point is to not make the same mistakes, but to grow (so we can make different kinds of mistakes...that's OK...that's a part of life long learning). In that way, people can achieve success.