"Peter, I am the Magi. I have seen your struggles and wish for you to struggle no more. I will grant you one wish. What shall your wish be?" said the Magi.
The Magi was an angel sent by God to help those who had demonstrated persistence and determination. Only those chosen by the Magi could hear or see him. Peter had heard of the Magi but he thought it was a children's story. He could feel his heart begin to race and breath quicken. "Why me?" thought Peter.
"I have come to help you become, Peter. You may make one wish. What shall it be?" said the Magi.
Peter wanted more than anything to be a great athlete, but he was tired. He stretched and stretched, lifted and lifted, and ran and ran but he was not the athlete he wanted to be. He wondered, "What shall I wish? Should it be to be a great athlete? Would that be it? Or maybe if I were stronger or more flexible?" He did not want to waste his wish.
"I wish I were a great athlete!" Peter exclaimed after much deliberation.
"To grant your wish, I must understand your desire. What is a great athlete?" asked the Magi.
"A great athlete is strong, flexible and can run fast for miles and miles and can jump and throw. I want to be a great athlete too!" said Peter.
"Are you not strong and flexible? Can you not run fast for miles? Can you not jump and throw?" asked the Magi.
"Well, yes I can do all of those things. But yet I am still not great. I want to be great," Peter replied.
"When will you know you are great Peter?" asked the Magi.
Peter was silent. He thought about what the Magi had asked. After several minutes he said, "I will be great when I am the winner of competitions and everyone knows I have won."
"Peter, must you always win to be great? Could you be great and lose?" asked the Magi.
The Magi had asked a difficult question. If he loses, he is not great. Yet Peter knew of great athletes who had lost games. He knew they were still great and they would lose again sometime.
"Magi, I am confused. I think to be great, I must win but I know I may lose too. I think to be great I must be strong, flexible, nimble and fearless but I may never be strong enough or flexible enough. I may never be nimble enough or have enough courage. I want to be great but how will I know when I am great," said Peter.
"You will be great when in your heart you know you are great. Win or lose will not matter for your greatness will be determined not by your skill or your knowledge but by your desire. Can you see you are already great?"
Must you possess exeptional knowledge to be great? Certainly. Must you possess exceptional skill to be great? Absolutely. But there is no substitute for the power of desire. The proof of desire is pursuit. Be relentless to be great.
Make today count.
Doug Kelsey
Author. Teacher. Therapist.
