Falling Short

My friend posted an incredibly humorous video on facebook the other day. I watched it and actually laughed out loud! It was a singing group called ‘The Kings Singers’ singing an old song called, ‘Short People.’ Being a tall person myself, I am unable to appreciate neither the pros nor the cons of being short and could only enjoy the clip and then try and decipher the message it was sending, if any was being attempted.

The song starts off with the words, ‘Short people got no reason to live.’ It then goes on to describe short people in grossly exaggerated terms, depicting them as people with ‘little hands’ and ‘little teeth’ (really?) and going so far as to decide that ‘they wear platform shoes on their nasty little feet’. The first verse ends off, ‘don’t want no short people ‘round here’.
Seeing as the chorus is largely made up of tall men, it seems unfair at first glance to the poor short fellow standing in the middle, who graces his way through the song with indigent expressions and shocked airs, protesting visually to the onslaught of insult directed at his creed.
Until about a quarter way through the song, when the little man is the centre of attention. As the others look on, he speaks out, singing, ‘Short people are just the same as you and I... all men are brothers until the day they die- it’s a wonderful world.’
Following that the lyrics do bash him again, but ultimately the song ends up with those four words: it’s a wonderful world.

As I watched the song over (quite a number of times- I really like it!) I began pondering the difference in the short man with regards to the tall ones.
Obviously, the tall people thought themselves superior. Though they never said it outright, the tall men expressed their opinion of themselves by ridiculing their fellow. Automatically, by putting down someone else in a multitude of ways, picking on their every fault and setback, to the point of making up negative criticism of them and portraying them as facts (‘they walk around telling great, big lies’) the tall men didn’t even have to praise themselves one iota. Their message of ‘We are better than you’ was heard loud and clear.
Yet I wonder, what if someone were to write a new song, about tall people? The disadvantages involved; the lanky appearance they sometimes give off or the back problems they might endure. It could easily be named ‘Tall people have no reason to live’ and could go on to mention every negative nuance being a tall person involves. Would that, I ask myself, put the tall men in their place- and maybe give the short man some satisfaction?

Literally speaking, as I mentioned earlier, I am a tall person. At 5”7, I see pretty well when in a crowd and many have been the times I have been asked to assist someone in a supermarket aisle, reaching something from a high shelf and passing it down. Of course, unlike the song which is but a humorous dig at short people, I have both short and tall friends and respect them all very much.
Really, though, spiritually speaking, the height of my friends and myself cannot be measured in inches, centimetres or feet.

Am I a tall person? Sometimes. But somehow, there are times that I fall short. I fall short of who I am and the person I could really be. My potential might be sky-high and my limits may know no bounds. But I get lazy. I lose interest in a subject I am pursuing, I give up after only three or four rejections, I fail to accomplish a task I set out to do. I fall short of myself.
At that point I find excuses to set aside my disappointments and setbacks. Look at her- she hasn’t even worked all year! At least I held down a steady job. Oh, and he lives in a ridiculously filthy house- thank G-d I do the basic cleaning. And she- well! She doesn’t even know what career she wants to excel in! Good thing I know how to make beneficial decisions... Sounds familiar?
We fall short- and we look at others to make ourselves feel better. Somewhere inside us is a guilty conscience aching to reveal the truth but we stifle the voice and look over the fence instead. Is he better than me? No. Has she accomplished more? No. So why should I feel bad?

In the Hayom Yom, a book written by the Lubavitcher Rebbe with short, spiritual sayings for every day of the year, it is written and I write this approximately: In matter of holiness, one should look at the person higher than him. Holiness, I feel, pertains to anything worthy or attainable. When calculating your own merits and achievements, don’t look over you shoulder and excuse yourself by noting those who are not up to par with you. Instead, take a glance the other way- and realize the greatness, the milestones reached, the significant change and the worldwide benefits achieved by those ‘taller’ than yourself. And be humbled.
I may look tall to you when I walk into the room. But sometimes, I feel incredibly short.

‘All men are brothers until the day they die... it’s a wonderful world.’