I was thinking about the long list of “great things” I want to do and wondering what direction I could take that would lead me in the right direction. I mentioned to my wife that, with the my unexpected career change and the COVID19 quarantine, I may have to remove some things from my list. In fact, I don’t see right now how I am going to get to do great things. Her response was that I should stop worrying about it and just do “good things.”
I don’t think she was trying to be profound, and I am certain that is the beauty of it, but this got me thinking about the frustration that many of us may be feeling with the uncertainty of our future right now. In fact, even in normal times, I don’t think that most people who achieve greatness set out to do so. They simply set out to do good and keep doing that. Eventually others recognize them (or what they have done) as great.
Thomas Edison needed light. George Washington needed to cross the Delaware. Shakespeare wanted to tell stories. Rene Descartes wanted to explain mathematics. I could go on, but I hope you see the point. None of these set out to do anything great, they simply saw a need and did their best to fulfill it. Greatness came later…. maybe much later.
I think there are many who wait for greatness to find them and miss many opportunities to be good in the meantime. I have spent the last 22 years trying to make math meaningful for my students. I have coached softball and soccer players to reach for their best and I have seen many of them discover greatness along the way. I recall our first section championship softball team and my head coach asked me what I thought about the team. I still remember that I told her that the thing I liked best of this team was that they had no idea how good they were. I still think that is the most beautiful thing about greatness: when one does not recognize it for themselves, but those around them do.
I find myself in a situation where I have a lot of ideas, but no clear vision of what comes next. I think many of you may be in that same situation. I’m going to take my wife’s advice and not worry about seeking greatness, but focus on doing good every day. We all are faced with a multitude of seemingly small decisions each day and we can choose “good” at each turn, or not. We can choose selfishness or selflessness. We can choose kindness or rudeness. We can choose humility or arrogance.
Truth be told, we are all a little frustrated with this isolation. Even those of us who are typically introverted are beginning to crave the outside connections we have been denied. I remind you that it may very well be the quarantine regulations that have kept this from being much worse than it has been. Hang in there. We can do anything for a finite amount of time and there is light at the end of this tunnel. Search for good to do today. Be kind. Be humble. Be considerate. Maybe it’s just sitting by the fire and taking a moment with someone you are quarantined with, or use technology to do it with someone you are not quarantined with.
Look for good to do today.
