Not too long ago, Zarina wrote about buoys, the thing that act as reality checks to a life that promises to distract us from what's important to us. Today, at the start of yet another tedious week, I'm thankful I have my beacon.
Beacons guide ships in the night - they provide a much needed indicator of our destination and a point to focus on when the seas get rough and stormy. We have many such beacons, some are distant and out of reach, and some close to our hearts.
For many of us, faith is one such beacon. A promise of things to come, of a divine plan, of destiny. But a pessimist I know often argues that some of us are destined for greatness, and some of us just aren't - a possibility that doesn't give us much solace in the end.
Which is why I like 'sub'-beacons. The kind you get by looking towards what's immediately in front of you. The little signifiers of a controllable destiny that you can hang on to - an object, a thought, or even a person.
So when things get ugly or you feel the shackles of your existence weigh you down, look to a beacon and know that life is but a moment, and that this (fill_in_the_blanks) too shall pass...
Posted by Najah Nasseri at 2004年05月24日 18:09 | TrackBackGreatness, as with almost everything else, is relative. We tend to measure greatness in monetary terms, or something like that.
Cliched, but no one is really destined for greatness. You can have all the best things in life and still fuck up. It's there, and perhaps more importantly it's in the eye of the beholder.
I don't really much care for greatness, excepting that I hope I become great at whatever it is I do for a living.
Posted by: Ash.ox at 2004年05月24日 20:09When you get down to it, the only person who can answer the question of how great you are and how you have measured up to the world is you and God, and no one else. Believing otherwise is hubristic and foolish.
Posted by: T-Boy at 2004年05月24日 20:15you are right, najah, we all need beacons in our lives. without beacons, we would drift aimlessly in life, not knowing what to do.
Posted by: lucia at 2004年05月24日 21:07A beacon only guide you at a specific location. Not very useful when you're on a long journey. I would rather have a good map/chart and a GPS. There'll be risk without a beacon, especially when you're close, but heyyy, it'll make arrival much more meaningful. Take a risk, be great.
Posted by: rhomer at 2004年05月24日 23:28But T-Boy, there are a number of people out there that a majority of us concur as being great e.g. Mother Theresa. Is she any less great if she thinks nothing of her greatness?
A person can think he is great, but that may not be true. Isn't this being hubristic and foolish? Just watch the earlier bits of American Idol and you get what I mean.
Ash, when a person is said to be destined for greatness, it is when he becomes great despite the potential fuck-ups that can happen. There is very little that we can control, and to become great despite the lack of control, that is what people would call destiny or fate.
Posted by: The Other Dude at 2004年05月25日 12:03Your post brings this verse from a favourite song to mind.
"there i am in younger days, star gazing
painting picture perfect maps
of how my life and love would be
not counting the unmarked paths of misdirection
my compass, faith in love's perfection
i missed ten million miles of road i should have seen"
(a bit off de topic perhaps..need bouys within de comments to keep us focused on the actual post!)