How Many Followers Do You Have?

Last week on Facebook, I read something that was not only inspiring but thought provoking. It made me smile in reminding me that greatness is not always determined by popularity or conformity.

The phrase was simple: “Just because someone has more followers than you doesn’t mean they’re better than you. Hitler had millions. Jesus had 12.”

When I started this blog, I did so with the sole intent that I wanted to try and do something good with my writing. I don’t care whether five people or 5,000 people read it. I don’t care whether it ever catches the watchful eye of a publishing company that subsequently offers me a book contract like in the movie Julia and Julia….although that would be quite fabulous. All I care about is that at least one person--somewhere, someday-- reads it and walks away from it feeling better about life and who they are as an individual. I have no idea as to how many people actually read this blog, although I do hear from people on a regular basis who’ve read my most recent post and commend me on it. My blog following is small and largely limited to people who know me. But you have to start somewhere.

Most everything I do in my life...whether it’s my writing, pedaling my bicycle a ridiculous number of miles just to see if I can, trying my hand at playing hockey, loving people unconditionally who bring nothing good to my life, or riding a wakeboard in a hot pink tutu…I am constantly trying to push myself out of my comfort zone, raise the bar for what women are capable of, and setting myself apart from the majority.

And some people think I am absolutely crazy for those and so many other things! Some people won’t even associate with me…whether that’s because they are intimidated by me, they don’t understand me, or I’m just too much to handle, I’ll never know. But quotes like the one on Facebook remind me that things like that should not be deterrents in the things I try to do or be. There was a time when people thought it foolish when Columbus said the world was round, not flat. Or when Lincoln said that slavery should be abolished. Or when Susan B. Anthony preached that women deserved the right to vote. Or when it was finally announced to passengers that the “unsinkable” Titanic was foundering in the middle of the Atlantic.

Some of the greatest things achieved by mankind were at one time thought to be impossible. Some of the greatest minds were once called crazy and foolish. The world’s largest religious following today was started by a man who initially only had 12 followers and who was ultimately put to death.

The point is that thinking outside the box and going against the grain is an incredibly difficult and burdensome path for those who choose to travel down it. There will be far more reasons along the way to turn back and conform to what everyone else want you to do and believe. But in order for the world to evolve and become a better place, there has to be some brave enough to stay on course.

My dream of being a writer and doing something good through what I write is a lofty one. And odds are I will never have the literary success of Ms. J. K. Rowling or win a Nobel Peace Prize or have 5 million followers on my Facebook page or blog. And unlike some people I know who have had nothing but success in their life and flash it about with expensive toys, houses and adoring groupies, my success someday will be displayed in the smiles on people’s faces when they read my articles and books and them feeling better inside because of a sentence of mine they couldn’t get out of their head.  I may never have a large following for my writing or anything I do in my life, but that doesn’t mean I won’t still achieve greatness. I believe that a person’s motivation behind what they do with their life is a bigger determinant of the level of success and greatness they will go on to have….whether during their  time or long after. Hitler did horrible things and sought to wipe out an entire race of people simply because they were different. He had millions of followers during his reign. But how many does he have now? Jesus showed how you could live a good and pure life and he died to save the souls of all mankind. He had 12 followers during his lifetime….today he is worshiped by billions of people on every continent on earth.

The number of followers you have…in whatever you do….does not determine success, greatness, or goodness. What determines those things is your reason behind doing them and the nobility and integrity of that reason.