Celebrating “YOU!” | Ideas from Great Minds
The
‘Courage’ to be Yourself!
We, as human beings in
general, and as learners in particular, always regard the ‘cultured’ self,
which is conditioned by the society in which we live, as the true form of
self-identity that establishes our individual worth, truth and merit!
Any personal development,
professional growth or career advancement is always seen from this ‘vantage’
point of view, that we fear and dread the very fact to be different!
‘Why did you take to
Engineering?’
“My parents forced
me into it. So I had no other option.”
‘But why-o-why?’
“That’s the way of the
world, they say!”
‘What do you mean by the
‘way of the world’?’
“The way society goes
about doing things in general.”
‘What if you don’t go by
the ‘normative’ dictates of ‘society’?”
‘I probably would be
stereotyped as a ‘cultural misfit’!’
Many of us are, like
this pavapetta learner, easily swayed by the ‘dictums of society’
imposed on us, the restrictions and the clutters, the pressures and
the pulls, from parents and kith and kin, that inhibit and retard our free
selves, the stale, clichéd normatives of society that stifle us from
celebrating the true, liberated ‘self’ within us all!
‘Society’ hates it with
such fierce hatred, when you try to celebrate your own personal space, by stepping
aside and gently moving away from the ‘basic givens!’
‘Society’ looks down
upon you with contempt when you attempt at venturing into a field that people
would call ‘highly insane’!
‘Society’ would even
call you a ‘misfit’ if your thoughts, your ideas, your way of life and your
sense of self, are way out of the box!
But you can’t blame
society for it!
That’s because, that’s
the way society has always been!
At the same time, there
have been great thinkers, stalwarts, philosophers and motivational authors down
the ages who have always exhorted us hard to celebrate our sense of ‘self’!
To Aristotle,
“Knowing oneself is the beginning of true wisdom!”
To Pythagoras,
‘Only if you know yourself, you can then know the universe and God!’
To Jiddu Krishnamurti,
‘To know yourself you need not go to any book, to any priest, to any
psychologist. The whole treasure is within yourself’ and so, ‘the more you know
yourself, the more clarity there is’!
Similarly, there have
also been a host of motivational experts who have exhorted us all to ‘dare to
be different’!
From Edward de Bono,
who’s given us tips to go out of the box in our thinking,
To Steven Covey
who’s given us motivation enough to prioritise the individual ‘character ethic’
over the ‘personality ethic’,
To Daniel Goleman
who has prioritized the ‘emotional’ over the ‘Intellectual’,
To Malcolm Gladwell,
who’s given us the 80/20 principle, where the 80% of the work are done by the
20 percent of the participants,
To Norman Vincent
Peale, who’s waxed eloquent on the power that comes along with positive
thinking, to help people suffering from huge inferiority complexes and those
having lost faith in themselves to come out of these quagmire stuff, and regain
self-esteem and faith.
To Luminita D. Saviuc,
author of the inspirational book titled, 15 Things You Should Give Up to be
Happy, she quotes a very interesting study done by Professors at Harvard
University who found out that,
‘All children are born
geniuses; 9,999 out of every 10,000 are swiftly, inadvertently degeniusized by
grown-ups’.
This study proves a very
interesting and inspiring thought, she says!
That -
Intelligence is not an
inherited trait, nor is it something that only special people possess, but
rather there is genius in each and every one of us.
This is something you
should never doubt. Something you should never forget. And even though at times
your mind will try to convince you that there’s nothing unique and special
about you, you should never doubt that there truly is.
You should never doubt
that there is something in you that is unique, powerful and of great value,
that there is a beautiful reason for your existence and a great purpose for
your life, because there is.
We are all born gifted;
we are all born geniuses.
There is something unique,
valuable and very precious in each and every one of us.
We all possess unique
gifts and talents that are meant to be our gifts to the world.
And in time we will be
able to realize that who we are matters, and that the work we hold in our
hearts is of great value and of great importance.
There’s no such thing as
intelligent and less intelligent people.
There’s no such thing as
worthy and unworthy people.
There’s no such thing as
valuable and less valuable people.
There’s no such thing as
people who can make the impossible possible and people who can’t.
There’s no such thing as
special and less special people.
These are nothing but
mind-created barriers and limitations - limitations that are meant to keep us
stuck in a very dark, lonely and unhappy place.
There’s something unique
and precious about each and every one of us.
We are all valuable
human beings; we are all intelligent and capable of achieving many beautiful
and wonderful things.
We each have a very
important role to play in this world, and who we are matters.
Who you are matters.
What you know matters.
Your unique gifts and
talents matter.
Your presence and your
work matter, and whether you believe it or not, the world needs you.
The world needs you to
be you, to do your part and to play your role as beautifully as possible.
That’s the challenge!
And that’s the first
step, the baby step, towards living an authentic life!
Yes! An authentic life!
There are quite a few
possible ways to celebrate your sense of self-worth!
I would like to
enumerate just two for the moment, down below –
First and foremost,
Cultivate your Personal
(Sacred) Space!
Yes! It IS a sacred
space!
Every individual who
wishes to have a high sense of self-esteem must needs do this in their
life for sure!
People who tend to
follow the crowd, the passive majority, are always known for their
fickle-mindedness! (Julius Caesar, Shakespeare)! They ain’t gonna have a sense
of self-esteem anytime, anywhere!
But people with a good
sense of self-esteem will always cherish their personal space!
A Personal space, is
one’s cherished sacred space, where there ain’t gonna be any intruders of any
sort!
Celebrate this personal
space, - a minimum of say, one hour a day, or two hours a day, every day of the
week, every week of the month, and every month of the year, until you gently exit
this dwelling!
So what exactly do I do
with this thingy called a ‘personal space’, you may ask?
Well, you can literally
do anything.
Simply put, be yourself.
Indulge yourself in whatever you like doing the most! In your own treasured
private space!
A Space where you are
not gonna have any dictates from anyone!
The mantra to
celebrating your personal space is this:
Dare to come out of
anything that clutters your life.
Rightaway!
Anything that exercises
an uninterrupted power over your little lovely life, cut it off rightaway!
Don’t be a slave to
anyone! To anything! You weren’t born to be a slave to anyone, anything, and
anywhere!
Secondly,
Discuss Ideas, NOT
people!
As the good old adage
goes, “Small minds discuss people, average minds discuss events, great minds
discuss ideas.”
Well, there’s more to
this quote than meets the eye!
SMALL MINDS DISCUSS
PEOPLE!
So how do we identify a
“small mind”? Quite simple!
A “Small mind” is a
person, who, when he/she gets to know something about someone else that no one
else knows, they get such great inspiration and a huge boost to their lowly,
lackluster, wayward lives!
And when they share it
with another person, they experience such a great sense of satisfaction, or a
sense of accomplishment, and this alone forms the basis for establishing a
shared intimate connection with the other person!
And the obnoxious cycle
just goes on and on amongst these small, petty minds!
Their very existence on
this planet hinges on these little gossips that rule their lives with an iron
hand, all through their small, petty lives!
In fact, discussing
people is never a bad proposition after all!
But we should ask
ourselves the reason for going ahead and sharing the information about another
person!
Is it for slander, for
gossip, for maligning their character, or for telling/celebrating the little
good things that we have observed in that person?
Yes! it’s the intention
that matters!
AVERAGE MINDS DISCUSS
EVENTS!
This is not the
Derridean ‘event’, but it could be any ordinary event like your friend’s
wedding, betrothal, or birthday!
Average minds excel in
discussing the little uneventful things that happened in these ‘auspicious’
occasions, and revel with happiness in highlighting the negatives and the
weaknesses that happened at the event/s.
When this event is
shared or discussed with their ‘friend’, opinions are given, criticisms are
made and judgments are pronounced, and even verdicts are passed with such
intense joy and mirth!
GREAT MINDS DISCUSS
IDEAS!
Great minds always take
delight in indulging themselves with meaningful conversations, intellectual
chatter, ideas that question the status quo, that critique the present by
presenting alternative ‘what if’s, and create pathways or policies that can
chart a delightful future ahead, for others to follow!
Great minds are ennobling
minds, who ‘apply thought’ to whatever they do, are so intellectually mature,
that they do not have the time to talk about gossips, about people, about
events etc.
They think it below
their dignity to stoop to the levels of gossiping, or wasting their precious
time talking stuff about people or events!
That’s because their
thoughts are always focused on the betterment of themselves and the society at
large!
Thirdly,
Avoid Negative People!
It’s an innate quality
within us all to strive to be happy and to make others happy, and thereby
attain happiness, peace and joy in our little, beautiful lives on this planet!
However, there are
people who are an embodiment of negativity, who are always lurking behind us,
trying to kill the chirpy, happy spirit within us!
They can never ever
produce any positive vibes or happiness around them, and they will take away
all your precious attention, all your valuable time, and all your vibrant
energy, even as they pull you deeper and deeper into their bottomless pit of
negativity!
And yesss!
Always surround yourself
with people who inspire you, encourage you and help you realize your
value and your potential.
Oprah Winfrey vouches to
the success of this great method! She says,
“Surround yourself with
only people who are going to lift you higher.”
And, as the saying goes
– “Life is simply too short to be friends with negative people! - and
added, there are a lot of great people
out there”!
Most importantly, ‘It’s
time for you to be saying ‘Yes’, only when you feel it in your heart that you
should be saying, ‘yes!’ and ‘No’ when ‘no’ is needed. It is time for you to
Love, Honour and Respect Yourself once more!’
‘Always remember that
life is too short to live a life that is not yours to live. So yes! Let go of your
fears, and Be Yourself fully!’
Because, that’s the apt definition
of the word ‘Courage’ for you!
Cicero’s approach had long receded into
the collective memory of the European nations when the Baltic vicar Johann
Gottfried Herder took it up 1800 years later in his Ideas towards a Philosophy
of History of Mankind, which appeared in 1778. 
