Perseverance as Truth - Life as it treats

At 40, changing my role models changed my life.

In my teens and 20s, I worshipped the Gods of sport: Sachin, Michael, Agassi/Nadal.

In my 30s, I drifted to Gods of business: Steve, Bill, Tata/Wipro.

I studied their lives, their paths to greatness.
“Greatness is a science". I was told. Talent, Hard work and a little Luck. Just keep at it. You will become "them".
 
Two decades on, I realized, I didn’t have one‑in‑a‑billion talent, Neither discipline nor hunger.
And luck…she proved elusive.

Yet, the fault wasn’t in the Gods. It was in what I was seeking.

I had confused inspiration with aspiration. I didn't need to become them. I just needed a reason to get out of bed everyday.

At 45, I find that reason is everywhere. It’s in the common man on the street. In my maid, who earns 40k/m, runs a family of six and still smiles. In the shopkeeper who toils from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week, so his children can have a life he never did. In every 80 yr old family patriach who continues with a single minded mission of providing for his now, 4th generation.

In the cancer and stroke survivor, happy just to be alive. In every man & woman who do it all…tirelessly. Day in and day out.

As I grow older, I see perseverance everywhere now ,  not as tragedy, but as truth. It inspires me far more than success ever did.

It creates a quiet, primal resolve in me: to live in a way where I’m never a burden on anyone.
To stay true to my purpose and my joys. Stop trying to become someone else.

Maybe it’s time we redefine greatness, not by how high we rise, but by how quietly we keep going. Who around you inspires you?