Greatness

I believe that within every person is the potential for greatness. Greatness is the ability to make lasting improvements in another person’s life. It happens when you leave someone forever changed because of your influence and ability to see them with an eternal perspective.

 There is one experience that helped me to see the greatness in both my older sister, Rachel, and her friend, Jill. It was during my sixth grade year at a very small rural elementary school that was Pre-Kindergarten through Eighth Grade. Each grade level had one class, one teacher, and less than thirty kids.  Most of the kids had been there since Pre-Kindergarten.

Rachel had been bullied, picked on, and named the “weird kid” in her class. Recess was spent reading comics and trying to escape the taunts and teases of her classmates. She struggled with her self-esteem, and eventually was so depressed that she couldn’t think of a single good thing about herself.

During those years, Rachel would pray every day for a friend. When Jill arrived at school Rachel knew she was the answer to her prayer. Jill was warned about this weird girl, Rachel, and told to stay away. Lucky for us, we lived next door to a cute boy. Jill began coming over to visit. Jill was amazing, sweet and extremely interested in learning more about our church. Her father had passed away a few years earlier and she wanted to know what happens after we die. The three of us had long discussions about our Heavenly Father and His eternal plan for all of us.

Talking with Jill about how much God loves all of us was an important life changing experience. As we spoke there was a feeling that I can only describe as spiritual fire. It sunk deeply into my heart that we are all children of our Heavenly Father and He wants us to return to him someday. Seeing life with an eternal perspective and knowing that Jill would someday be reunited with her father gave me so much peace and joy.

It was an experience that changed all of our lives. Jill became interested in the church and was baptized. She continued to be Rachel’s friend, even though she could have been a part of the popular crowd. Rachel knew that she was important enough to Heavenly Father to receive an answer to her prayer.  She got the friend she deserved all her life and was able to see her own value through Jill’s love and friendship. Their “best friends” necklace is still one of Rachel’s prized possessions.

When we improve someone’s life and help them see that they are a child of God we achieve greatness. God does not want us to fail in life. We are meant to grow and improve. Sometimes that improvement and growth happens after the struggles of life drag us down until we are on bended knee pleading with God. Rachel’s struggles led to a change in my life and Jill’s. Jill’s struggles led her to change my life and Rachel’s. There is so much more than this moment or experience, there is eternity.  We were blessed after the struggle.

I am forever changed because I was able to witness Rachel and Jill’s greatness. I know that I cannot achieve greatness as a singer, musician, actress, YouTube star, or scientist and that is ok. I don’t want to be any of those things. That is not what excites me and fills my heart, body, and soul with passion. I want to achieve greatness by helping people know their eternal potential and filling them with the desire to strive for it. I want to be able to lift people out of their depression and see the value of their life just like Jill did for Rachel.

(This was an assignment in my English class for my LDS Pathways courses. There is a book and a website that has a bunch of "This I believe" essays that are fascinating. If you were given the assignment to write about something you believe, what would you write about?)  https://thisibelieve.org/