There are over 1,000 ways to commit greatness with a car

I’ve been pondering what it means to be great lately.

Have you ever stopped to think just how easy it would be to die at any given moment? If you walk into a room, you could slip and hit your head on a coffee table. You could fail to turn off the gas. You could fall down the stairs. You could place your hand under the lawn mower. You could keep that hair drier plugged in while you wash your hands. Have you ever been driving down a highway, and realized that if you turn your hands ever so slightly, you would go barreling headfirst into a semitruck?

What I’m getting at is that there are so many opportunities we have to die. Some rely on carelessness. Some rely on deliberate attempt. However, they’re all there. The only reason we’re alive with all these possiblities is because we choose to avoid these things. We walk that razor’s edge, and we keep our heads down. It seems crazy, but it’s not so hard when you’ve been doing it your whole life.

Today, I realized that greatness is the same way. We’re by-and-large content to stare at our feet as we walk through life. We focus on being “safe” and “secure”, rather than actually doing something with our lives. We smother our talents.

When you really think about it though, all you have to do is turn that wheel a few degrees to the left, and that existence is forever changed. The opportunities to make a difference are all around us, every day. No matter what our circumstances, no matter what our talents, no matter what our obligations, there is always that stairwell, or that hair drier right there in front of you (I realize this sounds morbid, bear with me). You don’t have to be a nobody. Keep in mind however, that greatness doesn’t work like absolute values. Only the positive numbers are useful in life’s equation. Lose sight of the order of operations, and you’ll be shooting yourself in the foot on this exam.

What do you want your Wikipedia article to say?