True Equality

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."
So says Thomas Jefferson. Today, it is argued that he is wrong. Obviously men aren't created equal! Look around you, they say, some people are born into lives of ease and comfort, while others must fight for a place to sleep at night. Some are smarter, faster, stronger than the rest. Others are charming. Its obvious!
I respectfully disagree. Remember that Mr. Jefferson was a pretty smart man. I don't think he was talking about intelligence, inheritance, or ability. We all start out at 0% of our potential. True, each of us has a different ceiling for that potential. The journey, however, is the same length for all of us. It takes our entire lives to reach that full potential. Again, some lives will be longer than others - that is irrelevant. George Washington will go down as one of the most important poeple in history. While this is true on one level, on another level, it simplifies history. Surrounding him were thousands of other men and women who were well on their way to reaching their potential. To the world it might matter who accomplishes the most, but for us as individuals, all that matters is how close we came to reaching our potential, and how much we helped others reach theirs.
Not many of us will die with adoring crowds shouting our names, so the achievements that the world knows will not matter much in the end. Most of us will die quietly, alone or with a few close friends. We alone will judge our works - not based on how much we did, or how much we accumulated, but based on our potential. If we have acheived our potential, then our pursuit of Happiness will finally end. If we have not done everything we could, ignoring what the world thinks, then I believe we will be pursuing happiness for a long, long time.