I used to believe that achievement meant
winning, being the best, coming in before everyone else. Achievement
was gaining recognition, being praised, being noticed by other people.
Gradually, though, I've realized that that way of looking at achievement
was more harmful to me than helpful--if I expected recognition for everything
I achieved, I was bound to spend most of my life being disappointed, for
people aren't going to give me recognition just because I think they should
or hope they will. I needed to start basing my actions on what I wanted
to accomplish and what would help others--some of my greatest achievements
have been some of the smallest, for they've been the most helpful to
others.
I'll never win an Olympic medal or be the governor of
a state or the president of a country, but it's important for me to realize
that those areas aren't where my gifts lie. If I'm to achieve what's
most important--whatever it is that will make me a better, kinder, more
compassionate human being--then I need to be true to my gifts. I need
to search out areas of achievement that will help me to grow, and most of
all help me to help others to grow. Once I do anything solely for potential
recognition, I've achieved something for a poor motive, and that achievement
is worse than worthless.
The gifted athletes or actors or politicians who focus
on self may have an extensive list of achievements to show for their efforts,
but of what value are they if they're not helping others with their gifts?
My goal is to make my achievements helpful, useful.
Of course, we can't do everything that we do just for
others--sometimes we do something that can make us proud. We run the
10k race a little bit faster than before, or we get a short article published,
or we win an award at work or at school. Those are all great achievements,
and most of us are able to avoid letting such achievements go to our heads
and make us forget others. But we must focus on how such achievements
add to our confidence or self-esteem so that the next time we're in a situation
that demands a certain level of confidence, that prize that we won becomes
much more valuable because its effects make us much more effective in the
current situation.
My greatest
achievements shall never be known, perhaps even to me. Having made
someone smile and see the world a bit brighter, having given someone hope
for the future, having helped someone see potential inside him or her self
that he or she never might have seen otherwise, having helped someone to
see just how beautiful he or she really is--these to me are the achievements
that most can help this world to be a brighter, more loving place.
