This I Believe

I WAS BORN FOR GREATNESS.

No, I am not great, at least not in any public perception. But if the circumstances ever present themselves, I know I could be great. I could have been a famous doctor or scientist and discovered the cure for some exotic disease, but we were raised poor. Most of my time as a child was spent just trying to survive to adulthood and I did not have the necessary resources nor opportunities to draw from. I could have been a Vietnam War hero. I was in the Army during the height of the war but most of my military career was spent fixing non-descript electronic circuits inside non-descript buildings. Ft. Bliss, in El Paso, Texas was as close to Vietnam as I ever got. I could save someone’s life for I am trained in both CPR and First Aid, but no one has ever been in a life threatening situation where I could help. If I had been born in the Old West days, I know I would have been great. I would have been a gold miner, or a mountain man, or even a U.S. Marshall. I would have blazed new trails into unknown territory or sailed uncharted seas. Each day of my life, I awake with the knowledge that this could be the day. This could be the day when finally my skills and courage are put to the test. So I am always ready, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice. I am fully aware that my moment of greatness may never come. I may spend my whole life doing what the majority of all Americans do — trying my best to raise a family and provide adequately for them, grooming my children to be better educated and more successful than I have been, and just being the best person I know how to be. My greatness may be relegated to my close circle of friends and family. In fact, my greatness may only be realized in the generation to come. And that’s okay but I know that if the circumstances ever present themselves in this life, I was born for greatness.