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The funny thing about life is
that you realize the value of something only when it begins to
leave you. As my hair turned from black, to salt and pepper to
finally salt without pepper, I have begun to realize the
importance of youth. At the same time, I have begun to truly
appreciate some of the lessons I have learnt along the way. I
hope you will find them useful when you plan your career
and life.
The first thing I have
learnt is that we must always begin with our strengths.
From the earliest years of our schooling, everyone
focuses on what is wrong with us. There is an imaginary story
of a rabbit. The rabbit was enrolled in a rabbit school. Like
all rabbits, it could hop very well but could not swim. At the
end of the year, the rabbit got high marks in hopping but
failed in swimming. The parents were concerned. They said,
"Forget about hopping, you are good at it anyway. Concentrate
on swimming". They sent the rabbit for tuitions in swimming.
And guess what happened? The rabbit forgot how to hop. As or
swimming, have you ever seen a rabbit swim? While it is
important for us to know what we are not good at,
we must also cherish what is good in
us.
That is because; it is only our strengths that can give us the
energy to correct our weaknesses. The second lesson I
have learnt is that a Rupee earned is of far more value than
FIVE found. My friend was sharing with me the story of his
eight year old niece, she would always complain about
breakfast. The cook tried everything possible, but the child
remained unhappy. Finally my friend took the child to a
supermarket and bought one of those ready-to-cook packets. The
child had to cut the packet and pour the water in the dish.
After that, it took two minutes in the microwave to be ready.
The child found the food to be absolutely delicious. The
difference was that she had cooked it! In my own life, I have
found that nothing gives as much satisfaction as earning our
rewards. In fact, what is gifted or inherited follows the old
rule of come easy, go easy. I guess we know the value of what
we have if we have to struggle to earn it.
The third lesson I have learned is that no one bats a hundred
every time. Life has many challenges. You win some and lose
some. You must enjoy winning. But do not let it go to the
head. The moment it does, you are already on your way to
failure. And if you encounter failure along the way, treat it
as an equally natural phenomenon. Don't beat yourself for it
or anyone for that matter! Accept it, look at your own share
of the problem, learn from it and move on. The important thing
is, when you lose do not lose the lesson. The fourth lesson I
have learnt is the importance of humility. Sometimes, when you
get so much in life, you really start wondering whether you
really deserve all of it! This brings me to the value of
gratitude. We have so much to be grateful for. Our parents,
our teachers and our seniors have done so much for us that we
can never repay them. Many people focus on the shortcomings,
because obviously, no one can be perfect. But it is important
to first acknowledge what we have received. Nothing in life is
permanent but when a relationship ends, rather than becoming
bitter,we must learn to savor the memory of the good
things while they lasted.
The fifth
lesson is that we must always strive for excellence. One way
of achieving excellence is by looking at those better
than ourselves. Keep learning what they do differently.
Emulate it. But excellence cannot be imposed from outside. We
must also feel the need from within. It must become an
obsession. It must involve not only our mind but also our
heart and soul.
Excellence is not
an act but a habit. I remember the inspiring lines of a poem,
which says that your reach must always exceed your grasp.
That is heaven on earth. Ultimately, your only competition is
yourself. The sixth lesson I have learnt is never give up in
adversity. It comes on you suddenly without warning. One can
either succumb to self-pity, wring your hands in despair or
decide to deal with the situation with courage and dignity.
Always keep in mind that it is only the test of fire that
makes us find steel. A friend of mine shared this incident
with me. His eight-year-old daughter was struggling away at a
jigsaw puzzle. She kept at it for hours but could not
succeed. Finally, it went beyond her bedtime. My friend told
her, "Look, why don't you just give up? I don't think you will
complete it tonight. Look at it another
day."
The daughter looked with a strange
look in her eyes, "But, Dad, why should I give up? All the
pieces are there! I have just got to put them together!" If we
persevere long enough, we can put any problem in
perspective.
The seventh lesson I have learnt is that while you must be
open to change, do not compromise on your values.
Mahatma Gandhi often said that you must open the windows of
your mind, but you must not be swept off your feet by the
breeze. You must define what your core values are and what you
stand for. And these values are not so difficult to define.
Values like honesty, integrity, consideration and
sensitivity have survived for generations. Values are
not in the words used to describe them, as much as
in simple acts. A wise man once said, "You do not have to
change the world to make a difference. If on the way to your
house, you can bring a smile on the face of a crying child,
you have done your bit". At the end of the day, it is
values that define a person more than the achievements.
Because it is the means of achievement that decide
how long the achievements will sustain. Do not be tempted by
short cuts. The short cut can make you lose your way and end
up becoming the longest way to the
destination.
And the final lesson I learnt is that we must have faith in
our own ideas even if everyone tells us that we are
wrong. There was once a newspaper vendor who had a rude
customer. Every morning, the customer would walk by, refusing
to return the greeting, grab the paper off the self and throw
the money at the vendor. The vendor would pick up the money,
smile politely and say "Thank you, Sir." One day the Vendor's
assistant asked him, "Why are you always polite with him when
he is so rude to you? Why don't you throw the newspaper at him
when he comes back tomorrow?" The Vendor smiled and replied,
"he can't help being rude and I can't help being polite.
Why should I let his rude behavior dictate my
politeness?" So it is, my young friends, with all of us. In
my youth, I thought of myself as a rebel and was any
times, a rebel without a cause. Today, I realize
that my rebellion was another kind of conformity. We defied
our elders to fall in line with our peers! Ultimately, we must
learn to respond instead of reacting. When we respond, we
evaluate with a calm mind and do whatever is most appropriate.
We are in control of our actions. When we react, we are still
doing what the other person wants us to do. I wish you all the
best in your life and career. I hope you achieve success in
whatever way you define it and what gives you the maximum in
life. Remember those who win are those who believe they
can.
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