“Who are you?” is a question that everyone has been asked at least once in one’s life. Whether the answer is as simple as one’s name or complicated as one’s existence, the answer is an opportunity for greater understanding. Despite this, a similarly important question is rarely asked “Who can you become.”
Whether asked by someone or by oneself, I believe this question is neglected. As important as knowing who is oneself is, realizing what one can become leads to one knowing the greatness one is capable of doing.
A scene from a movie I recently watched challenged the idea of class. It had the idea of “So what we are of a low class? Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive for greatness” and that reminded me how one’s Heaven Luck, One of the Factors of Human Success, affects one’s success in life. Our Heaven Luck deals with what one is born with, and though it is likely our individual circumstances may have a lot of hindrances, those hindrances shouldn’t prevent us from figuring out our capabilities and our worth.
As much as Heaven Luck is an important factor in finding our potential, Man Luck, our hard work, can often widen our horizons with what one is capable of. How many times has it happened that one tried something new and realized the talent one has? In our pursuit of finding ourselves, our Heaven and Man luck work hand in hand. One’s upbringing may create different gauges to what we think our potential is, but it is our hard work and effort that makes us aware of what it truly can be.
As I approach my 53rd birthday, I reflect on who I am now. I think about who I am, what led me here, and the choice I made to be where I stand today. Though I am in my 50s, I know I can still be more. After decades of drifting, flowing, and uncertainty, through my Man and Heaven Luck, I was able to finally realize, at a later stage in life, that I could be more than what others, myself, and my upbringing has made me to believe.
A quote that struck me once said “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, He should sweep even as Michaelangelo painted.” Maybe, just maybe, not all of us are meant to do amazing things. Perhaps our ultimate potential isn’t that high as others. Although it might be true that most of us can’t change the world, by being oneself, doing the most one can, with all the love in the world, one can change the world others live in, and before we know it, one becomes the reason someone is great.