Do you know who Belisarius was? We all should as he was one of the greatest military generals in all of history. Yet, Rome’s highest ranking commander under the Byzantine emperor Justinian is virtually forgotten to history. Belisarius was the heralded hero of Western civilization on multiple occasions. As Rome collapsed and the seat of the empire moved to Constantinople, Belisarius was the only successful warrior. He won tremendous victories and routinely saved a weakened Justinian from riotous mobs. He reclaimed territories and Rome — all before he was 40.
So what was his reward? He was not given public triumphs. Instead, he was repeatedly placed under suspicion by a paranoid emperor that he dutifully served. His victories and sacrifices were undone with bad politics and he was relieved of command. He was rewarded with the deliberately humiliating title of “Commander of the Royal Stable.” And as he moved into retirement of his illustrious career, Belisarius was stripped of his wealth, and according to the legend, blinded, and forced to beg in the streets to survive.
Even harder to comprehend is that as the beloved head of the army he could have taken the throne on numerous occasions, though he was never even tempted. While the Emperor Justinian fell prey to all the vices of absolute power—control, paranoia, selfishness, greed—we see none in Belisarius. Belisarius just did his job. That was enough for him.
Historians, scholars, and artists have cried out for this poor treatment for centuries. However, in all the historical accounts the one person we don’t hear complaining about any of this? Not at the time, not at the end of his life, not even privately: was Belisarius himself.
Belisarius won his battles, lead his army to success, and maintained his personal ethics. However, he could not control whether his work was appreciated. He had no ability to control whether a powerful dictator or jealous “others” received it.
In life, there will be times when we do everything right, we demonstrate success and "check all the boxes". Yet the results will somehow won’t be received by those that we seek validation from or worse from those we serve.
How we perceive the "why" of our work will decide the effects on us. If ego holds, we’ll accept nothing less than full recognition. This is dangerous and yields the power to others. Because as we work on a project—whether it’s a school or otherwise—at a certain point, that "work" leaves us and is given to the world to be judged, received, and acted on by other people. It stops being something in our control and it depends on others.
What makes Belisarius special was that he knew the deal and accepted it. Doing good work was enough. Serving his country, his God, and doing his duty faithfully was all that mattered. Adverse treatment could be endured and any rewards were considered extra. Because not only was he often not rewarded for the good he did, he was punished for it.
We are all faced with similar challenges in the pursuit of our own goals: Will we work hard for something that can be taken away from us? Will we invest time and energy even if an outcome is not guaranteed? With the right motives we’re willing to proceed. With ego, we’re not. It takes focused humility to admit that we have only minimal control over the rewards for our work and effort—other people’s validation, recognition, rewards.
It’s far better (and more resilient) when doing good work is sufficient. In other words, the less attached we are to recognition or rewards the better. Especially problematic is the fact that, often, we get rewards and recognition, deserved or not. We are praised, we are paid, and we start to assume that the two things always go together.
It calls to mind the encounter between Alexander the Great and the famous Cynic philosopher Diogenes. Allegedly, Alexander approached Diogenes, who was lying down, enjoying the summer air, and stood over him and asked what he, the most powerful man in the world, might be able to do for this notoriously poor man. Diogenes could have asked for anything. What he requested was epic: “Stop blocking my sun.” Even two thousand years later we can feel exactly where in the solar plexus that must have hit Alexander, a man who always wanted to prove how important he was. As the author Robert Louis Stevenson later observed about this meeting, “It is a sore thing to have labored along and scaled arduous hilltops, and when all is done, find humanity indifferent to your achievement.”
Be ready for it. It will happen. The very people you serve and benefit from your good work will under appreciate and possibly ignore the positive outcomes. We can’t let that be what motivates us.
Late in life Belisarius was found innocent of false charges and his honors restored—just in time to save the empire as an old man past his prime. Yet life is not a fairy tale. Once again he was again wrongly suspected of plotting against the emperor. In the famous Longfellow poem about our poor general, at the end of his life he is impoverished and disabled. Yet he concludes with great strength: “This, too, can bear;—I still Am Belisarius!”
Remember why you do the work because you will be unappreciated...you will experience surprising failures and betrayals...your expectations will not be met. How do you carry on then? How do you take pride in yourself and your work? John Wooden’s advice to his players says it: Change the definition of success. “Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”
Do your work. Do it well. That’s all there needs to be. We can’t let externals determine whether something was worth it or not. It’s on us. The world is, after all, indifferent to what we “want.” If we persist in wanting, in needing a certain appreciation or respect we are simply setting ourselves up for disappointment.
Doing the work is enough.
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