Boom Boom! Revolution

Maybe it’s because I live in Santa Cruz, but I see the most interesting things on my way to work. Sometimes it’s a work of art provided by mother nature, like this:

And sometimes it’s a work of heart provided by a human, like this:

Although seemingly different, I believe both of these masterpieces have similar origins. In fact, I believe they come from the exact same place…the place where the very best of us resides. These pictures celebrate and demonstrate the potential of what we can be and communicate the exact same message: whether it’s Mother Nature or a human being, there is greatness in everything and everyone.

Sometimes we uncover this greatness on our own and sometimes it takes a little  inspiration to help us see it. But, make no mistake, it’s there. Our challenge is to recognize it when it shows up. Let’s face it, it’s easy to see greatness in these examples, I mean, what’s not to admire? But greatness comes in all varieties, whether it’s in the form of a simple, every day sunrise or in the gesture of someone offering an umbrella to another in the rain. Both are great.

Think about if for a second… the sun comes up every day. That alone is great. Someone helps someone out every single day. Also great. But we forget how truly great these things are because they seem ordinary, common place. We’re used to them. So, my theory is that every once in a while we get a reminder, like these here, to help us recognize both the stunning and the every day greatness that exists around us. But that’s not all.

More than that, I think examples like these have a much higher purpose. Their purpose is to inspire us to recognize and uncover our own, unique greatness.

Not every sunrise looks like this. But every once in a while the light shines through the clouds in such a way as to illuminate everything around it, casting so strong a radiant blaze that everything touched by this light has no choice but to respond. Whether it’s the glowing stately rock perched on the ocean cliff or the smallest grain of sand shimmering in the light, both are inspired by the sun, to be more.

The same holds true for us. If we choose to, we can reflect the greatness of people like this man who has decided to dedicate his life to serving others because he “just wants to help”. There is a light that shines from within people like this and, like the grain of sand shimmering in the glow of the sun, we can be inspired by the light emanating from this man to do more and to be more. Does this mean we follow his lead, cast off the life we know to support a particular cause? Absolutely not. It just means we have the opportunity to reflect the greatness seen here and find our own unique version of it. Because it’s in every one of us.