Inspired to greatness?

What defines the ideas, thoughts or interests that inspire us? It's a loaded question. There are numerous answers. Which suits you? The spectrum of inspiration is infinite. A journey through the annals of time reveal thousands of examples of inspired people. What inspired them to the point of not being able to not succeed? People like the founding fathers of this great nation? Abraham Lincoln? Louis Pasteur? Mother Theresa? Boone Pickens? Norman Rockwell? Lance Armstrong? Babe Ruth? Theodore Roosevelt? Winston Churchill? And many, many, others. Even the opposite end of the spectrum. Al Capone, Jesse James, Ghingis Khan, King Herod, etc. No matter what you think of any one of them or even your neighbor, we are all inspired by something. Maybe it's the level of inspiration that is different in each of us. Maybe some of us are inspired too large or we aim for a target based on an inspiration but the target we set is unattainable in one step.
The spirit of a man is one the most powerful things on the face of the earth. We have accomplished great things. We are inspired. As with any thing capable of much power there has to be order put in place to keep that power as they say "between the ditches". Power without order becomes chaos and very unpredictable. Order brings success. Order keeps emotions in check. Without order power can be like a rocket or a missile without a guidance system. It has a devastating amount of influence on the things it impacts but who knows where it will impact if the guidance system isn't working. thus chaos ensues without order.Order sets boundaries. Boundaries define focus. Focus is required to finish. Inspiration is the driving force, order keeps the inspiration from crashing and becoming chaotic. Focus benefits from order and allows a finish. It all starts with inspiration though. What inspires you? Every human can be inspired to greatness and greatness becomes possible through inspiration, order and focus.
Greatness is like beauty. We've heard it many times, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Greatness is in the eye of the ones touched by greatness. It's a simple thought. Sometimes we want to be great on a historical magnitude. We should look around us. Maybe we don't need our names in the annals of history. Define opportunities existing in your immediate realm of influence. Are you capitalizing on your opportunity to be great to your family? You can be a great neighbor, employee, citizen, volunteer, etc. The opportunities to be great are all around us. Greatness does not equate to perfection either. We can use our mistakes to learn about our ability to let others down. The key is to learn from our mistakes. That means not beating ourselves up to the point of destroying our inspiration, dreams and abilities because we make mistakes. One of the first steps to greatness is learning to forgive. Learning to forgive is often learned by being forgiven. Jesus taught his disciples about forgiveness using a parable. A rich man had an employee that owed him a great deal of money. There came a time when the rich man decided to forgive the employee of his debt. As the parable went once forgiven the employee had an opportunity to pursue greatness by following the example of his master. For whatever reason unknown to me the employee chose not to learn by example. He went to a person that owed him a small amount compared to the debt he had been forgiven and demanded repayment or he would have the debtor thrown in debtors prison. He lost focus of his path to greatness. He could have been great in his debtors eyes but alas he couldn't see the path to greatness. If memory serves me correctly when the rich man learned of his employees actions he pursued retribution equal to that required of the employees debtor. The point of the parable really is what you get from it. In this instance I see a missed opportunity to be great to another human being by being compassionate and forgiving.
Greatness has to begin somewhere. Are you inspired to greatness? Start with the smallest act you can perform to become great in someone else eyes. Remember greatness is in the eye of the beholder, right?
I would love to hear your story of someone you consider to be great because their greatness began in your realm of existence. Inspire me.