Great things have small beginnings

This is a quote from the book and movie titled “Lawrence of Arabia.” If you haven’t seen that movie, I suggest you watch it and pay close attention to a variety of characters whose lives sing. For the most part, the story is true. It seems that while the vast majority of people stumble through their lives and simply react to what happens to them, very often a world shaper enters the picture.

The thing about TE Lawrence is that he recognized at a young age his ability to bring about monumental change. In fact, read about it before you see the movie. See how a person of privilege, who seemed mediocre at best, identified the world he would change, studied it, and prepared to enter it before an opportunity arose to plan how to do it. This is such an off limits thought for the rest of us. The rest of us, being the ones it’s not the stumbles, we are producers of something, but probably something petty, something that enriches only us. However, it is rare to find a person as capable as Lawrence, who can achieve greatness on his own, however, he thinks of helping a town to be great, and not the people with whom he is affiliated. In fact, British Army generals and British politicians were convinced that he had done extraordinary things for Britain when he did them, but that was not true. He did extraordinary things to allow the Arabs to regain the independence they once had.

Today there is a lot of emphasis on technology, but what is technology without a human being to wield it? What was Lawrence’s small beginning? He rode alone across the desert on a camel to meet a local tribal leader. If he couldn’t impress the Arab, they would kill him. He hired an Arab guide and immediately listened to the guide and advised him as a father might advise a son. The two played a game during their journey, each trying to be the most moral. When Lawrence realized that his Arab guide was very appreciative of his personal weapons, he gave her his pistol, his only personal protection. He already reasoned that he wasn’t going to accomplish anything worthwhile through personal combat, so he didn’t need the gun. Instead, he would do great things through personal example.

From an inconsequential start, Lawrence created a consequence when he confronted the Arab leader just after the leader killed the guide because he drank water from the leader’s tribal well. At the risk of his own life, at the risk of any greatness he might have done, Lawrence rebuked the leader for placing so much value on his tribal trappings and so little on the life of an Arab brother. That was the small, but risky start of something big.

If you are going to do something great with your life, you must be totally involved. Nobody can find a fault if you are sincere and transparent. Other people follow those who behave that way. They follow the kind of people who give meaning to everyone’s life. The key to achieving something great is being a true leader and planning and preparing to lead. This is how you and all those who follow you will do something greater than yourself.