Personal Reflection on Greatness

 Personal Reflection on Greatness

"Don’t worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

Dr Abe V Rotor

Make your own personal reflection. Reflection brings out the inner person in you, like the inner eye of Heller Keller (Three Days to See), the Little Prince of Antoine de Saint-Exupery', idealism of Longfellow and Alexander Pope, meditation in Michelangelo's Pieta, the mysticism of Venus de Milo, enigma of wildlife in Rosseau's painting, inner ear of Beethoven, waning light in Claude Monet's Waterlily Pond. 

I invite our viewers to this exercise. You may find this useful in retreats and seminars, specially in leadership, and in the fields of theology, philosophy, and humanities.

One man fought a nation, and save a nation, abhorring violence.
His greatest weapon: peaceful protest and civil disobedience
in asceticism that swept the land;
people revering him as father and almost god.
His name is Gandhi.

Author poses with Gandhi in a wax museum in Singapore 

His likes are the greatest specimens of mankind; they too, changed
the world forever, making it a better place to live in.
His name is Mao Tse Tung.
His name is Ho Chi Minh.
His name is Jose Rizal.
His name is Ramon Magsaysay
Her name is Princess Diana.
His name is Jose Burgos.

He is Maximilian Kolby
She is Mother Teresa. 

He is Nelson Mandela
He is Pope John Paul II, et al

They are people for all seasons, for all ages, for all waves of change.
But little do we know of the unknown great man,

The Unknown Soldier -
unknown doctor, unknown teacher,
farmer, worker, entrepreneur,
old man, father, housewife, child;
The Unknowns in other fields of life, regardless.

Nelson Mandela

They are whose deeds are also those of great men and women we revere today.
They are us – each one of us
in our own little way to make the world go round and around –
or make it slower, that we may taste better the true Good Life,
the sweet waters of the Pierian Spring, the cool breeze on the hill.

All of us - we have the capacity to be great.
Bringing up our children to become good citizens,
being Samaritan on a lonely road,
embracing a returning Prodigal Son, 

plugging a hole in the dike like the boy who saved Holland from the sea,or living life the best way we can that makes other lives better.

St. Mother Teresa

These and countless deeds make us great,
and if in this or that little way we may fall short of it,
then each and everyone of us putting each small deed together,
makes the greatest deed ever,
for the greatest thing humans can do is collective goodness –
the key to true unity and harmony,
and peace on earth. ~

Part 2: Characters that accompany greatness

"Those who cannot feel the littleness of great things in themselves are apt to overlook the greatness of little things in others." 

-  Okakura Kakuzo

Dr Jose Rizal - Philippine National Hero

Portrait  by Fernando Amorsolo, national artist

“ I will be telling you this with a sigh,
Ages and ages hence where two roads meet in a wood.
And I, I took the road less traveled by.
And that is what made the difference.” Robert Frost

A. Characters that accompany greatness

1. Genetic propensity, genius, talented

2. Meeting challenge in early life

3. Endurance of pain and various trials

4. Persistence, often stubbornness,

5. Resoluteness

6. Dedication

7. Inquisitiveness

8. Enthusiasm

9. Pioneering

10. Humility

11. Sacrifice

12. selflessness

13. Courageous,

14. Steel character

15. Competitiveness, often against oneself

16. Accuracy

17. Perfectionism

18. Strong character

19. Grateful

20. Admired, vice versa

B. The other “side of midnight” in the lives of many great men 

and women may be characterized by the following:

1. Short-lived

2. Unhappy

3. Loner

4. Turbulent

5. Sickly/with infirmity

6. Misunderstood

7. Outcast

8. Maligned

9. Non-conformist

10. Poor, and the like.

ASSIGNMENT TataKALIKASAN

Answer the following:

1. Tell something about the legendary character - The Boy who Save Holland
2. “Serve the greatest good for the greatest number of people.” Is this parameter 

     a good measure of how great a deed we have done?
3. Greatness can be demonstrated by certain leaders in our local community.

    What are the qualities of these leaders?

Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (School-on-Air),
DZRB 738 AM 8-9 pm Mon to Fri with Ms Melly Tenorio