You Are What You Are
You are what you are!!
“Believe in yourself, take on your challenges, dig deep within yourself to conquer fears. Never let anyone bring you down. You got to keep going.” -Chantal Sutherland
When I came across the above lines while reading a book recently, I pondered over the fact as to how many of us fail to carve the path of success in our life. When we observe the world around us, we notice that hardly a few people achieve great success and leave behind strong footprints on the sands of time. The reason for this is that many people do not undergo the process of self-discovery.
It is ironic that a vast majority of people in the world do not try to understand what they are but try hard to conform to what others expect them to be. Most of the time, we fail to realise that our life is very precious and each one of us is uniquely bestowed with certain qualities. As Sarah McLachlan rightly says, “We’re constantly being told what other people think we are, and that’s why it is so important to know yourself.”We are ignorant ofour own capabilities and limitations. Hence, it is of paramount importance that we must start on the journey of self-discovery and explore the things that help us to achieve the intended goal in life.
1. Explore yourself.
Many people in this world fail to understand what stuff they are made of and so they are unable to decide what they are capable of achieving in their life.Hence, their journey of life shall be like sailing on the sea without any destination. As such, many people waste their life without achieving success in any endeavour. They miserably try to rise up to the expectations of others and always live according to others’ wish. Sidney J. says, “Most of us go almost all the way through life as complete strangers to ourselves.”We must understand that our true identity lies within us. We are the product of our thoughts, principles, values and beliefs. So try to explore your special abilities and aptitude and build upon them. Set suitable goals based on your abilities and try to achieve them within the specific time frame.
2. Think positively.
The way you think and feel about yourself largely influences everything that happens to you. The quality of your life is decided by the quality of your thinking. You can notice that positive words can make you happy and smile while bitter and sarcastic words make you feel sad and depressed. This shows that our thoughts react to the world around us in real-time. Hence, it is necessary that you should think positively about yourself and the situation that you are in. Some people get depressed when they find themselves in terrible situations. You have no control over the situation but you have complete control over your thinking. You must bear in mind that however bad a situation might be, it will end someday. So if you think positively, even a disastrous situation might provide you a great opportunity to grow.
3. Create a positive environment for yourself.
Your thoughts and actions are largely influenced by your surroundings-both the people around you and the physical environment that surrounds you. Therefore, it is necessary that you must be in the company of such people who have positive attitude and fill your mind with happiness. Being optimistic keeps you healthy and resilient.Anything is possible provided you have the right mindset and determination to achieve great things. People having negative attitude spread negativity wherever they go. So keep yourself away from such people. However, any constructive criticism should be taken with a positive spirit as it helps you to grow. It is necessary that you need to be in the company of such people who are just as ambitious and goal-oriented as you. People who are untidy, lazy and pessimistic may influence you negatively and force you to deviate from your path.Hence, leave aside all negativity, invite positivity and keep the right attitude.
4. Develop healthy habits.
Habits like listening to music and reading inspiring books can create positivity and help you to perform better in every activity which you are involved in. Listening to music of your choice can serve as a powerful a motivator and soother.If you read good books, you will gain a deeper understanding of yourself and the world. Great people whose achievements are marvellous, are normally great lovers of books.Unfortunately, in today’s technology-driven world, people tend to be busy in various time-killing activities which are usually unproductive. Social media sites are flooded with messages, photos, videos etc. which attract many users of such sites. Unknowingly, such people spend most of their time in viewing and responding to such posts. People hardly find time to read good books though they have free access to digital version of books online in many libraries. For such people, Atwood H. Townsend givesa timely advice: “No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.”
To conclude, we can say that every individual is unique and has the potential to succeed in life in the chosen field. Belief in yourself, self-esteem, confidence, positive attitude, good environment and healthy habits can undoubtedly lead you towards success in life.
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Mr. Shridhar Bhat, Assistant Professor of English