“The best thing about you is you” – Anupam Kher
The best, the unique and the most special thing about each one of us is being ‘us’. There are certain pointers which would definitely give a boost to the way we live.
Be Good: Being good doesn’t harm anyone. It always gives the blessing in return and if you do good you will feel good. Try it as often as you can and you will be proud of helping others. Greet everyone with a smile and if nothing else, you will get a smile in return. Today the world needs more smiles and joy. Spread Joy to bring a smile. Respect elders and even the ones younger to you. By simply being good to everyone around you, you can make a huge difference. Even smallest of the candle when lit, lights up the room. Likewise, a good deed done shines out in this weary world. Try applying what Gautam Budha said, “Conquer the angry one by not getting angry; conquer the wicked by goodness; conquer the stingy by generosity, and the liar by speaking the truth.”
Don’t fear failures: Life always has two shades. Sometimes it will show you a bright coloured shade the happy one and sometimes the difficult one. In this journey called life, the path is not always smooth. It has pebbles, it has pot holes and sometimes even the road to your destination may be blocked. But you need to keep moving and sometimes even change the path to reach your final destination. Life will keep on throwing challenges at us. Challenges, success and failures all go hand in hand. In a way, success can be compared to a video game. The higher level you achieve, the more challenging and difficult the level becomes. You either continue to play or you quit. The choice is always yours. Isn’t it?
Change with time: Change is the only constant thing in this universe. One has to change with time and if you don’t change then time would surely push you back. By changing, I don’t mean changing your morals or values. No matter whatever be the era, a man of values always stand the strongest. By change I mean changing the strategies, the outlook and even when needed perception. Some of us tend to live in the past. Why? We have the future ahead to look forward to. You can’t change the history but only learn from it and improvise upon the future. So, keep moving further. Let the past become just a learning lesson and not your entire life.
Be a person of morals and values: In accordance with the Hindu mythological traces, both Duryodhana and Yudhisthira were equally mighty and courageous. But a certain factor prevailed to alter the elevation of success attained by them. The factor was values. Materialistic things may come and go. What remains with you are your
values.
In a way, success can be compared to a video game. The higher level you achieve, the more challenging and difficult the level becomes. You either continue to play or you quit. The choice is always yours.
Think before you Judge: I will share a story. A 24-year-old boy seeing out the train’s window shouted, “Dad, look at the trees running behind.” His father smiled and nodded lovingly. A couple sitting close by looked slightly confused at a 24-year-old getting so excited and thrilled by just having a look at the passing by trees. Soon after he shouted again “Dad, look at those clouds. They’re running with us.” Every next moment he appeared to be astounded by every other part of nature. The couple sitting close by couldn’t resist and said to the father, “We think you should take your son to a good psychiatrist or may be a good doctor. There seems to be something wrong with him.” The man patiently replied, “We’ve actually just returned from a good doctor. My son was born blind. Today, he can see for the first time.” Remember not to judge people’s lives. Everyone’s living a different story, going through their own challenges. Before we make an assumption about anyone, we really need to understand and know the person and the circumstances. And remember, judgement is critical but observing is educational. Focus on learning about people before passing a judgement.
Sometimes by giving too much help, we tend to hurt: Once upon a time, there were two neighbours. One was a businessman and the other one was a retired teacher. Both of them were very fond of gardening. And they decided to plant the same plants in their respective gardens. When they started to do this, the retired teacher took some care of his plants but didn’t over pamper them. The businessman, on the other hand, is extremely meticulous, gave a lot of attention and took care of the plants almost too well. One night there was a mild storm and heavy rain. The next morning the retired teacher and the businessman both came out to see their garden’s condition. The businessman found that his well-kept plants had actually become quite damaged and destroyed because of the storm. The retired teacher, however, saw less damage in his plants, and they weren’t as affected. The businessman was a bit confused. He’d pampered his plants and given much further care to the growth of his plants. He approached the wise teacher and asked, “Why is that my plants didn’t survive, but yours did?” The retired teacher smiled and shared a very important lesson. He said, “Because you were giving such close attention and pampering to your plants that they became extra dependent on you. They needed you for their survival. But because I kept some distance and allowed my plants to find their own nutrients, to develop their own strong roots, they were able to survive the storm.
The same is true for us as a parent and educationist. We must realise that a little distance allows our children to grow, it allows them to grow much deeper and stronger. (Views expressed here are author’s personal)
(Anurag Vij is a renowned educationist and founder director of The Chintels School)
