Be Great!
If you know me, you probably know that I love most sports. I could easily spend all day watching football, soccer, basketball, or most other sports (probably not baseball, sorry). I love the action of the games, but I also enjoy learning about athletes who excel as people and stand out as strong role models. One such athlete for me has been Chad Lewis, who was a tight end for BYU and the Philadelphia Eagles. I don't think I ever actually watched him played (he retired from football in 2005), but many years ago I read his memoir, Surround Yourself With Greatness. The details of the book have mostly faded from memory, but the message has recently been impressed on my mind: to be your best self, you must surround yourself with greatness.
This advice carries several different meanings. First off, we must fill our time and our efforts with great things. We can't expect to shine if we waste our time doing things with no real value. We should actively be pursuing our goals and dreams (which means that we must actually make goals and plans for ourselves). Each of us has talents and potential to develop new talents, so we should use our time greatly to exercise them! Of course, we shouldn't always be working or studying, but I think that even among leisure activities there are things that are a wholesome use of our free time, and others that aren't. For me, watching a football game or talking with friends are usually better pastimes than surfing through memes on Instagram. We should be careful to do the things that really are great for us, whatever they might be. One of my favorite talks (which I have surely mentioned here before) is "Good, Better, Best" by President Dallin H. Oaks in which he counseled, "The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives." So, let us fill our efforts and activities with greatness and with the best things.
Additionally, one of the key ways that we surround ourselves with greatness is by surrounding ourselves with great people. As the famous saying goes, "show me who your friends are, and I will show you who you are." Think about who you are around the people you spend the most time with. Are you proud of yourself around them? Do you feel that you are your best self with them? Do you feel like you act as your true self? I have been fortunate enough to have pretty great friends and my family throughout my whole life. I am not the kind of person to fully express myself around people that I don't know well or am not comfortable with, but as I come to know others who are positive people, I become more of myself. Even this summer, I was able to make many great friends, who I was originally drawn to partly because of the goodness that I could see in them. After a while some of these new friends started to pretty much say, "Wow Brian, you are so much cooler than you used to be, what happened??" Despite their apparent sarcasm, I know that when I am with great people, I can more easily be the greatest version of myself. Of course, the opposite is also true. When we surround ourselves with those who bring us down, we tend to give into their lesser attractions.
Surrounding ourselves with greatness is not always easy. In my first week of high school, I cried more than once after school because I was so worried I wouldn't be able to find good friends! It was definitely a hard time for my 9th-grade self (who apparently was very dramatic), but I knew that I couldn't just settle to surround myself with whatever or whoever might be easiest to associate with. Thankfully, I was able to find great friends, and I think we mutually helped each other be our best throughout high school. I also found my niche in many academic and extracurricular activities. If you find yourself stuck in less-than-great pursuits, I would advise you to set goals and make specific plans to be better. (As any returned missionary knows, goals and plans are the key to success! On the mission, if things were just más o menos, the problems could almost always be solved by making and implementing effective plans.)
Finally, the best way that I know to be great is to follow our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We are living this life right now as a section of the eternal plan to become perfect as They are (3 Nephi 27:27). By coming unto God through prayer and humility, we can truly be great, no matter the circumstances. There may be times of our lives where we struggle to find great vocations or great people to associate with. No matter the situation, we can always find our Heavenly Father who loves us and knows us better than anyone else. Through Him, we can truly be our best selves.
Begin today to surround yourself with greatness! Doing things that you don't love or being with people who bring you down is simply not worth your time. Each of us has the opportunity to be better. It is usually not easy, but we can begin today and as we progress we will see positive changes in our lives. I'm thankful for the great people and great activities I could be a part of this summer in Florida, and I am looking forward to a great fall semester back at BYU.
Additionally, one of the key ways that we surround ourselves with greatness is by surrounding ourselves with great people. As the famous saying goes, "show me who your friends are, and I will show you who you are." Think about who you are around the people you spend the most time with. Are you proud of yourself around them? Do you feel that you are your best self with them? Do you feel like you act as your true self? I have been fortunate enough to have pretty great friends and my family throughout my whole life. I am not the kind of person to fully express myself around people that I don't know well or am not comfortable with, but as I come to know others who are positive people, I become more of myself. Even this summer, I was able to make many great friends, who I was originally drawn to partly because of the goodness that I could see in them. After a while some of these new friends started to pretty much say, "Wow Brian, you are so much cooler than you used to be, what happened??" Despite their apparent sarcasm, I know that when I am with great people, I can more easily be the greatest version of myself. Of course, the opposite is also true. When we surround ourselves with those who bring us down, we tend to give into their lesser attractions.
Surrounding ourselves with greatness is not always easy. In my first week of high school, I cried more than once after school because I was so worried I wouldn't be able to find good friends! It was definitely a hard time for my 9th-grade self (who apparently was very dramatic), but I knew that I couldn't just settle to surround myself with whatever or whoever might be easiest to associate with. Thankfully, I was able to find great friends, and I think we mutually helped each other be our best throughout high school. I also found my niche in many academic and extracurricular activities. If you find yourself stuck in less-than-great pursuits, I would advise you to set goals and make specific plans to be better. (As any returned missionary knows, goals and plans are the key to success! On the mission, if things were just más o menos, the problems could almost always be solved by making and implementing effective plans.)
Finally, the best way that I know to be great is to follow our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We are living this life right now as a section of the eternal plan to become perfect as They are (3 Nephi 27:27). By coming unto God through prayer and humility, we can truly be great, no matter the circumstances. There may be times of our lives where we struggle to find great vocations or great people to associate with. No matter the situation, we can always find our Heavenly Father who loves us and knows us better than anyone else. Through Him, we can truly be our best selves.
Begin today to surround yourself with greatness! Doing things that you don't love or being with people who bring you down is simply not worth your time. Each of us has the opportunity to be better. It is usually not easy, but we can begin today and as we progress we will see positive changes in our lives. I'm thankful for the great people and great activities I could be a part of this summer in Florida, and I am looking forward to a great fall semester back at BYU.
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