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Time and again I am confronted with the question, ‘What is it that I want from life?’ And there are no answers; in fact everything ends with a question mark. I am at a railway station with no sense of direction. There are two trains on either side of the platform going in opposite directions and I am not sure which one should I board.
One question that keeps on popping up is, ‘What is more important, happiness or success?’ But before acknowledging either one as more important than the other it’s essential to have a strong self belief. Irrespective of what people have to say, you should be able to tell yourself as to why what you feel is more correct than what they have to say.
Self belief is vital because both success and happiness do not have a pre-defined set of values/degree which when you attain you could be perennially successful or happy. You could be the world’s best batsman and yet people could prove statistically that you cannot play bowlers whose name start with ‘G’ especially in the 2nd innings. Here if you lack self belief, you end up being unhappy and think yourself to be unsuccessful even though you are the greatest batsman of the era.
Once you have a fair amount of self belief there’s no real need to answer the ‘what’s more important…’ waala question. That’s because both success and happiness cease to be mutually exclusive. With self belief, with whatever you have achieved, you could convince yourself that you are successful enough and once you are convinced, you could be happy about it too.
But then how far does self belief take you? Does it last for a life time? And even if it does is it really good for you? There are always at least 2 ways of looking at any idea/thought. Convincing myself that self belief helps was only one way of looking at it. It was an explanation that I conceived so that I can live peacefully at least for some time.
Like structures built in seismically active zones stand tall only till things underneath are quiet so also the self belief theory holds good only till something else doesn’t start boiling. And this something else is the awareness that everything here comes with an expiry date. I remember in my childhood telling myself that I could always remain in love with a certain toy, only to eventually lose interest in it.
However, rather than speculating how long would self belief keep you successful and happy it’s imperative to deliberate whether self belief is good in the first place. Surprisingly, in a way self belief is bad. It hinders your growth; it’s like a blind that doesn’t let light enter your room. You are content living in your small room but beyond those blinds lay an even more beautiful world that you are refusing to look at.
Imagine that as a toddler you could think for yourself. Then perhaps lying in your cradle, you could have had the self belief that this is the best life you could lead. Is self belief right in this case? The example seems silly but then life is like a maze. As long as you are in the maze, you feel like you are lost but the moment you get a top view of it, finding your way out is very simple. Looking back at the past is like having the privilege of having the top view, while in your present you are a part of the maze and struggling for directions.
Coming back to the point, self belief can very well leave you a toddler for life in some way or the other. Whereas self doubt always keeps you on your toes and willing to look for better things in life. Only when a mason feels that the structure is weak does he work on fortifying it.
Now I am back at the railway platform. Both the drivers have given me an overview of what’s in store if I take their respective trains. One is the train of self belief and the other of self doubt. Now even though I know which train goes where I am not quite sure of what I want in life. Do I aspire for contentment at the cost of stagnation or growth at the cost of discontentment?
(written - 30th Dec' 06)
One question that keeps on popping up is, ‘What is more important, happiness or success?’ But before acknowledging either one as more important than the other it’s essential to have a strong self belief. Irrespective of what people have to say, you should be able to tell yourself as to why what you feel is more correct than what they have to say.
Self belief is vital because both success and happiness do not have a pre-defined set of values/degree which when you attain you could be perennially successful or happy. You could be the world’s best batsman and yet people could prove statistically that you cannot play bowlers whose name start with ‘G’ especially in the 2nd innings. Here if you lack self belief, you end up being unhappy and think yourself to be unsuccessful even though you are the greatest batsman of the era.
Once you have a fair amount of self belief there’s no real need to answer the ‘what’s more important…’ waala question. That’s because both success and happiness cease to be mutually exclusive. With self belief, with whatever you have achieved, you could convince yourself that you are successful enough and once you are convinced, you could be happy about it too.
But then how far does self belief take you? Does it last for a life time? And even if it does is it really good for you? There are always at least 2 ways of looking at any idea/thought. Convincing myself that self belief helps was only one way of looking at it. It was an explanation that I conceived so that I can live peacefully at least for some time.
Like structures built in seismically active zones stand tall only till things underneath are quiet so also the self belief theory holds good only till something else doesn’t start boiling. And this something else is the awareness that everything here comes with an expiry date. I remember in my childhood telling myself that I could always remain in love with a certain toy, only to eventually lose interest in it.
However, rather than speculating how long would self belief keep you successful and happy it’s imperative to deliberate whether self belief is good in the first place. Surprisingly, in a way self belief is bad. It hinders your growth; it’s like a blind that doesn’t let light enter your room. You are content living in your small room but beyond those blinds lay an even more beautiful world that you are refusing to look at.
Imagine that as a toddler you could think for yourself. Then perhaps lying in your cradle, you could have had the self belief that this is the best life you could lead. Is self belief right in this case? The example seems silly but then life is like a maze. As long as you are in the maze, you feel like you are lost but the moment you get a top view of it, finding your way out is very simple. Looking back at the past is like having the privilege of having the top view, while in your present you are a part of the maze and struggling for directions.
Coming back to the point, self belief can very well leave you a toddler for life in some way or the other. Whereas self doubt always keeps you on your toes and willing to look for better things in life. Only when a mason feels that the structure is weak does he work on fortifying it.
Now I am back at the railway platform. Both the drivers have given me an overview of what’s in store if I take their respective trains. One is the train of self belief and the other of self doubt. Now even though I know which train goes where I am not quite sure of what I want in life. Do I aspire for contentment at the cost of stagnation or growth at the cost of discontentment?
(written - 30th Dec' 06)
posted by chega at 10:24 pm
3 comments
