Paths To Greatness

There are people we revere
because they have done
what we never did,
succeeded in ways
we never dreamed of.

We hold them up as gods,
as members of a higher race,
separate and superior,
or, in our jealousy,
we cast them down,
like fallen angels
who sacrificed their souls
for their good fortune.

And what if they
are not different from us,
but have simply made
different choices?

Can we not see them
as our own family,
brothers from the same brood,
starting from where we started,
but graced with discovering
their special paths to greatness?

Can we not welcome them
as our beloved teachers,
pointing the ways that are open
to any of us,
and all of us?