Significance

I'm not a particularly emotional person... I rarely tear up and I don't think I've full-on cried since over 5 years ago. But I think there was something about watching the end of Andre Agassi's tennis career in the following video that got to me and me choke up just a little bit (note that I still didn't cry!):



Back in high school when I was still playing tennis, Agassi was known as the "rebel punk" player, who eventually grew up into perhaps the most well-respected elder statesmen of his generation. He's won Grand Slam titles, he's dated Brooke Shields, and he's had a kid with Steffi Graf, perhaps the preeminent women's player of our time as well.

What I think gets me about this video is seeing the way one man's lifelong dedication and effort in perfecting his craft was appreciated by every fan who knew that they were seeing a once-in-a-lifetime individual. He grew up on stage, with everyone watching, and received a lengthy salute as a reward.

I think there's something inside every person who desires to know that they mean something to people. Most people want to be significant. Not everyone will get a standing ovation from thousands of people... but we ought to be able to make some kind of difference.