Sundaymail Editor
Hunt for Greatness
Milton Kamwendo
Life is here — live it and make the most of it. Stop waiting for the perfect moment. This moment of your life is not just a passing fade. It is the real thing. Live every day as though it is your last by making the most of each moment. Your life is not a dress rehearsal. You are the main actor in the movie that is your life. You are not preparing to live and you are not a mere victim. You are here — be bold and take your stand.
Give this moment the best attention you can and do all that is in your power to express your creativity, energy and life force. See this moment as your best opportunity. Stop waiting to be alive. Make the most of it while it is here. Whatever you do, do not do anything that will cause your parents, whatever their age to hate you.
In his famous play: “As You Like It”, Mr William Shakespeare details life as a stage with seven acts. Each of the actors plays their part then bows gracefully off the stage of life. Do the best you can with this moment. Do not wait to regret the moments you lost and the opportunities that you let slip. Play you rpart with grace and humility. Counting every blessing that comes your way.
Shakespeare wrote:
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”
Bold look
Be bold enough to look at reality in the face and keep marching. Be bold and be courageous. Do not let fear discourage you or distract you. Courage is not the absence of the emotion of fear, but acting and doing the necessary no matter what. Glance at the realities and take action.
Character is the fortitude to look at fear in the face and confront situations that you would rather avoid and flee from. Keep standing. Give your all to this moment. Do not let fear drive you into scaling back or retreating from your dreams and goals. Postponing bold and necessary actions does not help much. Ignoring issues does not make them go away. Hope is not a strategy. Confront reality with a bold look and strategic action.
Reality of place
Where you stand is important. Look carefully at the place where you stand. Watch out for the blind spots by welcoming feedback. It is easy to be self-deceived because you are in your own box. Keep poking at hubris and taking the path of humility. It is when you are puffed up that you are easier to disappoint and deflate.
Look at yourself squarely and ask, “Where am I really?” Pretending to be where you are not will not yield any greatness; rather only frustration. Stand boldly in your place and work diligently forward. Work humbly with what you have. Start where you are and there is no need to make any impressions or live a double life. Be you and start working from there.
Unseen reality
It is easy to appear to be content and complete and yet have a yawning gap within. An accumulation of ego-massaging trappings can never be a substitute for spiritual wholeness and vitality. True spirituality is not religious presumption. Spirituality is an important dimension of greatness. Unseen realities need to be confronted. The condition of the spirit-man within matters.
Spirituality is more than merely attending gatherings. True spiritual revival and living gives you power and fortitude. The mere practices of religion will never suffice or substitute the power of a living and vibrant spirit.
Dollar realities
Appearances should never be your end goal. Impressing people with what you do not have and do not own is regrettable living. Stop competing in blind races. Do not put yourself under unnecessary pressure and there is no need to keep appearances. Such a race sometimes has tragic consequences.
The earth is old and has the tendency to eat up and forget its heroes. The reality of being forgotten is a fact you need to swallow early. No one must ever fool themselves into thinking that they are totally indispensable and irreplaceable. Live your best today, playing the parts you are given with gratitude. Every day be able to end the day with the words: “I lived today!”
Look squarely at your economic reality. Running away from reality and planning in the clouds and acting like the world owes you greatness sets you up for sorrowful collisions with reality. Reality always has a way of forcing itself into locked hollow doors at unlikely moments.
Take a position audit. The worst you can do in looking at your situation is to blame someone else for your circumstances. When you blame you give up the power to effect change. Take personal responsibility. Live each moment knowing that you are accountable for your life. You dare not subcontract your life to someone else.
Whatever you are:
Live with your feet on the ground and confront reality in every area of your life. The more you look at reality in the face, the more greatness will shine through you. Be the best of whatever you are. Do not be disappointed about what you are not; just be the best of whatever you are.
Mr Douglas Malloch (1877-1938) wrote a moving and instructive poem entitled: “Be the best of whatever you are”. Accept yourself and be comfortable in your skin. Do the best with everything you are. Malloch’s poem reads:
“If you can’t be a pine on the top of the hill,
Be a scrub in the valley — but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if you can’t be a tree.
If you can’t be a bush be a bit of the grass,
And some highway happier make;
If you can’t be a muskie then just be a bass —
But the liveliest bass in the lake!
We can’t all be captains, we’ve got to be crew,
There’s something for all of us here,
There’s big work to do, and there’s lesser to do,
And the task you must do is the near.
If you can’t be a highway then just be a trail,
If you can’t be the sun be a star;
It isn’t by size that you win or you fail —
Be the best of whatever you are!”
Committed to your greatness.
Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author, and a virtual, hybrid and in-person workshop facilitator. He is a cutting-edge strategy, team-building and organisation development facilitator and consultant. His life purpose is to inspire and promote greatness. He can be reached at: [email protected] and His website is: www.miltonkamwendo.com
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