As we go through life, we often use two phrases to describe success: being a big person and being a great person. On the surface, they might seem to mean the same thing. But if you look a little deeper, it is easy to see they are worlds apart.
Being a big person is mostly an external thing. It depends on money, power, titles, or social status. When someone owns a lot of wealth or holds a high position in society, we consider them a big person. This kind of status is visible to everyone. It certainly brings respect, but that respect is often demanded through the force of power or money. The day the power fades or the wealth decreases, that respect also begins to vanish.
On the other hand, being a great person is about true inner beauty. It does not depend on money or power at all. A person’s kindness, empathy, honesty, and selfless desire to help others define their true greatness. An ordinary person with no wealth can be truly great through their actions and by standing by people in times of trouble. True greatness earns deep respect and love straight from people’s hearts. It is never something you can force.
Status can often make a person arrogant. True greatness always keeps a person humble. A person who is only focused on being big mostly thinks about themselves and their immediate circle. A great person thinks about the well-being of others alongside their own. Imagine a very powerful individual. They have high status in society. But if they are unjust to the weak, they can never be considered great.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to achieve high status in life. To be successful, you have to dream big. However, if that status is not mixed with inner greatness, the success does not mean much.
If a massive tree cannot provide shade to a traveler, its massive size is just a physical shape. In the same way, if a person’s status does not benefit society or other people, it is essentially worthless. Instead of just chasing status, we should practice building true greatness from the inside. Status comes to an end one day, but true greatness lives on forever in people’s hearts.
By Tanjid Shuvro
