I once had a counselor named Nancy who, upon me bringing up the importance of religious matters, said that I was being grandiose.
What she did not understand was that, for me, grandiose goals are perfectly realistic. I was recognized as a genuis since an early age, and I finished University of Virginia at age 18. With the education and the attention that I have had, I consider it imperative for me to make major contributions.
I have in fact made some such. I translated five books of classical Russian poetry into English. I have my name on a patent. I am well-known and respected as a poet in several scenes. I have contributed original and useful thought on a range of subjects, with practical applications in everything from journalism to economics and psychology. Even so, I have been willing to work in humble capacities, either for reasons of personal loyalty or for reasons of believing in the cause. My present employment is in research for a non-partisan political information site. It does not pay very much, but it benefits democracy, and its owner is a good friend.
The idea for translating Russian poetry came from an extraordinary teacher named Hughlings Himwich. He took personal interest in me, and he saw in me an extraordinary ability that deserved to be expressed. Now my translations are being used in dissertations, and while I've had many people claiming that there was no value for what I was doing, in fact great value has been achieved.
One of the worst things that can happen is to have a counselor who dislikes you. Such a person can do grave damage. One thing that I have had to do in my life is deconstruct the various forms of foolishness that people have used against me. To these people my response is that I did not start that fight, but I can finish it.
Once again, for some people grandiose is realistic. There have been many major contributors, and we continue to owe to them. If Thomas Jefferson had listened to Nancy, Nancy would be a peasant in Ireland living till age 30 and being beaten every day. And in attacking similar attitude in others, one attacks a lot of what made one's condition possible in the first place.
I have lived in America long enough to know that bold thinking is a virtue, and one that makes countries great. Considering such things to be unrealistic is failing to have an adequate concept of reality. The reality of our lives owes to many people who think bold. And if Steven Jobs or John Lennon or Theodore Roosevelt had followed Nancy's advice, we would not have much of what we have.
Now there are clearly situations in which people have expectations that are unrealistic for them, and it works for the betterment for them to adjust their expectations. However bold thinking has a vast role in improving reality of the world, and Americans especially should know that. I seek to challenge this thinking, and I seek to correct these errors. Grandiose has worked for many people. And many regular people owe much to those who have taken that path.