Last week one of greatest men of all time died, after 30 years of battling a disease that tore at the very fabric of the quality of his life.
He conquered the challenges of many men of his time, somewhat similar to those we are facing today and have since the beginning of time - wars of race and religion being fought in far off lands.
Muhammad Ali changed the way people see sportsmen. His was a viscous sport. One of true battle.
One day put on a pair of gloves, ask a friend to hold some pads and do your best for 3 rounds of 3 minutes.
Now put someone in front of you weighing 200 + pounds who wants to hit you harder than you can hit him. Ali was the greatest of all time at this and he did it with character and style.
Last week a few other men passed away.
One was a man who worked a field on the driest parts of Africa. That man didn't have press conferences each day before he went out to work. His fans were still asleep in their straw beds when he left for work and his greatest fan, would wake when he left with hope that her man would return safe and sound, well after dark that night.
Another man died last week. He would leave his modest 3 bedroom house and go to work with no crowds cheering for him as he trudged through the cold morning rain. Every day he would sit on a train for 90 minutes to go a job he had done for 25 years in a warehouse.
All these men were as great as the other.
Some have the innate ability to draw a crowd and have people listen to their passionate words, some just do what they do to bring food to the table.
I, in no way, am doubting the greatness of Ali.
But what makes a man great?
I also want to make it clear that I see the same challenges in a woman. What makes a woman great?
No person is perfect or can ever be.
Ali was far from perfect. But when time came to do a job for firstly himself and in turn for another, he was the best he could be.
Ali was a boxer and that's maybe why he fought those last few fights, when many felt he shouldn't.
But he went to work, like the man in Africa and the man at the warehouse, and did what it is he does best.
Ali inspired men, women and children all over the world to be great. Those other two men who also died last week inspired those closest to them. Those kids, in their straw beds, would watch their Father as he went out to the fields and they thought to themselves 'I have to use the opportunity my father has given me'.
Ali fought battles in an out of the ring for his entire life. That day a boy stole his bike when he was 14 and he went to the gym to learn how to box, was the beginning.
I enjoyed watching the 'Ali' show and learning about his legacy. As I have of many other sportsmen.
They have said that he was the greatest of all time.
I suggest that the greatest of all time are everywhere. Men and Women doing what they do because that's just what they do.
The nurses and carers in retirement homes and hospitals do great things all through their daily 12 hour shift. There's no post match press conference to ask them how they felt they went today.
But they may go home today, read a book of a new author they heard about, listen to a new piece of music they saw someone liked on social media.
The authors of that book, that music, did something great for someone who is great.
Inspiring others to be great, is a gift we all have and writing a few words on a screen may help to inspire the next.
