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LightHearted Musings - Great Necessities Call Out Great Virtues
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on December 7th, 2008
These are the times in which a genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life or in the repose of a pacific station that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised and animated by scenes that engage the heart, then those qualities which would otherwise lay dormant wake into life and form the character of the hero and the statesman.
–Abigail Adams
I love history!
Now, before you are able to form the word, “Ugh!” on your lips, let me explain why. History is so much more than memorizing dates. To me, every history lesson was a story of adventure or drama or comedy or tragedy. I would put myself in the story, wondering how I would have reacted under those circumstances. Would I have been the hero, the villain, the victim or, God forbid, not significant enough for history to record?
I would wonder what thoughts were thought during those episodes. What childhood or other influences were instrumental in swaying a person to one action or another? How does someone become either a Hitler or a Gandhi?
History is the story of people like you and me.
The obstacles they faced and how they faced them were what put them into the history books. When these heroes and heroines faced their obstacles, I’m sure they felt just as badly as when you and I face ours. But the heroes rose above them and the villains as well as the victims did not.
If someone were to write my history (complete with scholastic interpretations), what would they write? And what about you?
What would you want them to write about you?
History is a series of interconnected pictures, moments in time captured by someone who took the time to record it. How that storyteller framed the events often determined the parts each character played. Many of us grew up with the early American pioneers being heroes in our history books only to find out later that their methods of conquering the land from the Native Americans were anything but heroic. Which version was right? Interestingly, the answer is…both. Depending on how the scene was framed, both perspectives are correct. This is not a contradiction, just an understanding that the perspective can completely change the story.
In a perfect world, everyone ought to be a hero in their own life story.
Sorry to break the news, but this is not a perfect world. However, we’re not talking about the whole world - we’re just talking about you. Can you be your own hero? The beautiful and sometimes difficult part about history is that you can’t fall back on the excuse of, “But my obstacles are so much bigger…” No matter where you look, you will find people whose problems were far larger than your own but who became better human beings precisely because of their obstacles.
That’s what I want for myself - to be better because of my obstacles, not despite them. I want to be my own hero. And, I would guess, so would you.
Dr. Molly
Thank you Molly. What a great quote and musing to capture what I and so many people I know are working to accomplish in this time of challenge and uncertainty.
I observe the fear I sometimes feel as it connects with all of those shadow aspects of myself - parts of my past that would have me believe what I dream is not possible, or that I need to turn away and become more insular to stay safe.
Then I watch as I am able to love that part of me, hold that fear in my heart and respond to whatever challenge there is in that moment from a place of acceptance and faith. I falter, for sure, but I know that each moment is another opportunity to choose again, and I just keep up the practice. Your words are a wonderful reminder.
May we all love those places within that sometimes get caught up in fear and use our heart’s kindness to continue moving toward the hero we each are in our life stories.
Jordan
Comment by Jordan Hunter — December 9, 2008 @ 8:55 am