Here goes.
Heroes. Greatness. Life. Death. If I could sum up in four words the entire focus of my personal research and studies, and interests, since I was a very small child...those four words would be it. My driving ambition since I am too young to really remember, has been to one day become one of the greatest heroes of all time. This led me on a quest to discover what makes one a hero, what makes one great, and how the greatest heroes live and die.
Just like others have said before, and the movie Braveheart echoes:
"Every man dies, but not every man really lives."
I knew from my yougest days that I wanted to be one of those men who "really" lived. But what does it mean to really live?
Well, for one thing, it means being more than mediocre. It means doing more than the majority who go to school, to get good grades, to get a good job, to get married, to raise a family, to grow old, retire, and then die. If that is something you want, then do that, do like everyone else and do your best to be happy. All I know is that many people I talk with want more than that. They want their life to actually matter. They want to make a difference in the lives of others. They want to, essentially, have their part to play in changing the world.
Now, I know that some of you just laugh when people talk about changing the world, because others have talked about it since humans have had the ability to talk. And if you look at history, the world has been changing. It is always changing. And people will always talk about changing the world because the natural change can, and is, directed by us. So we do change the world, all the time, it just will never stops changing so we will always want to "change the world" and improve it. Even when we realise that it is, and always has been, perfect...from the standpoint of Eternity.
Anyhow, back to the topic.
The point here is that people want to know that they didn't waste their life. And they want to know that when they do leave, others will miss them. Really. Don't you want that?
When I saw the movie 300 last friday, it brought back so many fantasies and imaginary adventures I told myself and acted out as a child. I used to always imagine myself going off with a select group of elite warriors of all types and together we would defeat an ennemy of impossible size and power. Those voyages to fantasy worlds always made me feel powerful and motivated me to train and learn skills that would make me a great hero.
That's great Charles, but in 300 all the great heroes die at the end, so you're not following the script.
Quite right. And that critical voice in my head used to take those examples, as well as Bruce Lee, Jimi Hendrix, even Jesus, and tell me that to become one of the greatest heroes, you have to sacrifice your life too.
Fine, as long as its for something so big that my name will live forever. That was my answer. I was even looking around for some way to actually die a glorious death and be immortalised as a great hero. I used to compare this choice to the one made by the great greek hero of the Iliad, Achilles. When told by his mother (who was a sea-goddess) that he had two choices in life: to live simply and live long, raising a family, but be unremembered, or to go to Troy and die young but have his name echo in eternity... We all know what choice he made. But lately I have been asking myself if that the only way?
Are those who die young always put on a higher podium than those who live a long life?
No. The Buddha lived to be over eighty. Einstein was 76 when he died. And both Morihei Ueshiba (founder of Aikido) and Joseph Greenstein (aka The Mighty Atom, legendary strongman) achieved their most extraordinary powers in their later years (after 40) and lived a long life, still performing into their eighties. Beowulf also lived a long time after killing Grendel and his mother, and he got his glorious death as a wise old king killing a dragon. Not bad.
So it isn't really a question of "live fast, die young", but simply about how far you go. It's all about progress. The greatest are always those who have achieved more, advanced more, above and beyond what was accepted as true before. They are the ones who make the impossible possible. They are the ones who surpass all previously held limitation, and forever change the world because of it. And if you live longer, that means that you have more time to find the answer to that great thing you want to be known for, to achieve more great things, and make it even greater.
So, sorry Achilles, but I'm going for both: long life and a name that echoes throughout eternity. Lets make that impossible possible.
Live long and achieve greatness!
Charles
Well, for one thing, it means being more than mediocre. It means doing more than the majority who go to school, to get good grades, to get a good job, to get married, to raise a family, to grow old, retire, and then die. If that is something you want, then do that, do like everyone else and do your best to be happy. All I know is that many people I talk with want more than that. They want their life to actually matter. They want to make a difference in the lives of others. They want to, essentially, have their part to play in changing the world.
Now, I know that some of you just laugh when people talk about changing the world, because others have talked about it since humans have had the ability to talk. And if you look at history, the world has been changing. It is always changing. And people will always talk about changing the world because the natural change can, and is, directed by us. So we do change the world, all the time, it just will never stops changing so we will always want to "change the world" and improve it. Even when we realise that it is, and always has been, perfect...from the standpoint of Eternity.
Anyhow, back to the topic.
The point here is that people want to know that they didn't waste their life. And they want to know that when they do leave, others will miss them. Really. Don't you want that?
When I saw the movie 300 last friday, it brought back so many fantasies and imaginary adventures I told myself and acted out as a child. I used to always imagine myself going off with a select group of elite warriors of all types and together we would defeat an ennemy of impossible size and power. Those voyages to fantasy worlds always made me feel powerful and motivated me to train and learn skills that would make me a great hero.
That's great Charles, but in 300 all the great heroes die at the end, so you're not following the script.
Quite right. And that critical voice in my head used to take those examples, as well as Bruce Lee, Jimi Hendrix, even Jesus, and tell me that to become one of the greatest heroes, you have to sacrifice your life too.
Fine, as long as its for something so big that my name will live forever. That was my answer. I was even looking around for some way to actually die a glorious death and be immortalised as a great hero. I used to compare this choice to the one made by the great greek hero of the Iliad, Achilles. When told by his mother (who was a sea-goddess) that he had two choices in life: to live simply and live long, raising a family, but be unremembered, or to go to Troy and die young but have his name echo in eternity... We all know what choice he made. But lately I have been asking myself if that the only way?
Are those who die young always put on a higher podium than those who live a long life?
No. The Buddha lived to be over eighty. Einstein was 76 when he died. And both Morihei Ueshiba (founder of Aikido) and Joseph Greenstein (aka The Mighty Atom, legendary strongman) achieved their most extraordinary powers in their later years (after 40) and lived a long life, still performing into their eighties. Beowulf also lived a long time after killing Grendel and his mother, and he got his glorious death as a wise old king killing a dragon. Not bad.
So it isn't really a question of "live fast, die young", but simply about how far you go. It's all about progress. The greatest are always those who have achieved more, advanced more, above and beyond what was accepted as true before. They are the ones who make the impossible possible. They are the ones who surpass all previously held limitation, and forever change the world because of it. And if you live longer, that means that you have more time to find the answer to that great thing you want to be known for, to achieve more great things, and make it even greater.
So, sorry Achilles, but I'm going for both: long life and a name that echoes throughout eternity. Lets make that impossible possible.
Live long and achieve greatness!
Charles
Copyright © Charles Begin
2 comments:
BOn Charles, c'est un article qui pourrait etre dans tes livres de 'personal growth'! J'aime vraiment le ton inspirant, ca donne le gout de devenir un Hero..un hero encore plus puissant que celui que tu seras..:)
et tu aimerais avoir un collant bleu et rouge ?
en tout cas j'aime beaucoup la manière dont s'est écrit.
Moi je voulais être pilote de chasse mais sans tuer les gens.
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