the key to immortality....

i'm gonna try and get straight to the point here, but i think some background info is required to get the idea across...

there have been certain people in my life who (believe it or not) have seen "something" in me (don't ask me what) and said that i someday i would be "great"/famous. or maybe that was just my mom. do all peoples' moms say that? anyways...

it made me think. realistically, compared to all the masses and masses of people on earth, i am completely, utterly, even ridiculously unremarkable. the chances that i will ever achieve any sort of significant recognition in my lifetime are extremely slim. it is much more likely that, like most people, once my life is over any trace of a memory about me will disappear and my name will fade into oblivion.

which brings me to another point. it has been my experience, within my age group and other limiting circumstances, that people seldom give credit where credit is due. i've seen that we humans are largely irrational creatures whose likes/dislikes and other matters of opinion are often a mystery to our conscious minds, if we recognize that they exist.

and now the question...what is it that makes great people great? think of any person that you have heard about on a constant basis, over the course of many years. some examples that come to mind are benjamin franklin (one of the most famous of the founding fathers, mysteriously), elvis (just another rocknroller - turned supastar, icon, even legend), the list goes on. how do once ordinary people like these achieve infamy? luck? brilliant PR? genuine talent? what do you think?

Connection to a je ne sais quoi that there really is no name for.

They followed their bliss, curiosity, gut-feeling. Look at somebody like Madonna. She did what she loved. Truly loved. It took a lot of self-introspection for that, a lot of really looking inside, following her bliss. Even if you have no money, which she didn't for a number of years when she was a dancer, she still had her bliss, which was following her own way, discovering her path, being true to herself.

I think, in the end, it is not the person that is great but what they reveal, themselves being conduits. Following one's passion is the step toward that.

kris, instead of making assumptions behind my reasons for creating this thread, why not answer my question? i plan on dedicating my life to helping people, knowing very well that - as stated in this very topic - i probably never will be recognized for it, and that is not the reason i've chosen my career path. if you ever actually read my posts when you didn't have something to bitch about, you would know that.

better yet, you ignored every response i gave on the thread you created (including ones intended to help you), so i suggest you do the same for my (much better) topic.

you are dismissed.

*grin*

very nice to see you again. those posts were utterly inspiring. i appreciate it. and i hope that other people can too.

I think you already answer your own question

"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes to make it possible."

Great people follow their dreams, people with less courage only thinks about it , still lesser minds are content with survival and gewtting on with their daily lives.

WH, you are adorable.🙂
the mind often ticks at these issues. i think it ultimately boils down to your love for the thing you do. as AS said, timing is also important, but if dont love it, even timing wont do anything.

when i push my brain to think about any example where the person did not love what he or she did, i cannot think of anyone.

so>>what do you love to do?🙂

oh i know what i love to do. *snaps fingas*
the closer i get to pursuing & doing what i love, the more i think about the drawbacks. & the more i wonder if i can handle them.

which might be the reason that only a few can actually do it. it does need some pluck on your part i guess.🙂

Anything you do is going to take work, bottom line. You can work to avoid drawbacks, or you can work for your bliss. Whether or not you ever attain material things, fame, recognition is irrelevent. Your bliss can never leave you, if you choose to follow it (doing what you love).

"Whether or not you ever attain material things, fame, recognition is irrelevent. Your bliss can never leave you, if you choose to follow it (doing what you love)."

i couldn't agree more.

chocolate - i am in my 2nd yr of college. pursuing a degree in social science. i find the human mind to be very fascinating (but who doesn't, eh?). and irl i've found myself to have a fair amount of analytical ability that just never goes away. i have chosen this degree because a.) it will prepare me for what i hope to do and b.) it will leave many opportunities open in my field of interest. HOWEVER - i loathe in-depth, peer-reviewed (code for "20 page") article research under a deadline. and there is a lot of that involved with the classes i have to take. makes me question if i am putting all this work into something that will be useful. i would like to believe so - but one can't help but wonder.

...a very strange passion, i know. usually you'd expect people to say something like dancing or painting. but it seems like i always come back to it, or it comes back to me.

You're on the right track, Wheels.

I have seen writing books and waging wars are great ways to be immortalised.

Looks like someone is on his way to immortality 😉

dreams ruin your life. If you are prepared to make that kind of sacrifice, even at the expense of losing everything you hold dear, then you are on your way to greatness.

🙂

Are you an idiot, wheelhomies?

If you are, believe this quote: " Wherever you go, go with all your heart." (Confucius)

hahaha...
i must be. nice quote.