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By Jayaram V
Success is a state of mind. Some people are really capable of achieving
success. They
have all the talents and skills. They are like the flowers of
spring ready to blossom out of a dormant tree. But inside their hearts they do not think so. They do not believe
sincerely that they deserve success. They do not give themselves the
credit they deserve. When success comes their way, they attribute the reasons
to some outside source. Humility is no doubt a virtue. But not appreciating
yourself and not accepting yourself is not humility. It is a weakness that
needs to be addressed with vigorous attention. There are some who have
every talent you can imagine but too proud to seek the help of others. They can
achieve success and prosperity beyond their imagination if only they are
willing to find partners who can compensate for their weaknesses. But they
would not do so because they are either hesitant or reluctant. We are
not here to discuss why hundreds and thousands of brilliant and highly
talented individuals deny themselves happiness and success every day for lack
of faith in themselves and in others. Or why they do not utilize the skills
and strengths of others for the greater good of all. That is for psychologists to unravel. We
are here to discuss how we can be happy and successful by knowing about
ourselves and appreciating the role played by others in our lives. We are
here to find out how we can live with a sense of gratitude each and every
moment of our lives towards a vast mass of humanity that we take so much for
granted and live as if they do not exist and do not matter. Appreciating
Others
Life on earth is perhaps the greatest miracle of all. Life is so precious,
but not all of us appreciate it equally. Among all the living beings, human
species is by far the best. Some may argue that dogs and the like are the best,
because they do not argue or quarrel or overeat and they are extremely loyal,
except for an occasional bark or bite.
True, dogs and for that matter many pets are lovable and adorable. But let us also give
ourselves due credit. We are by far the most incredible beings we have ever
known. We can surmount any difficulty, solve any number of problems and,
given an opportunity, achieve whatever we set our minds upon. Some people predict doom and gloom
and the end of the world in a blast because of human fallibility. Some people
believe the world is progressively becoming dark and dangerous, ignoring many
wonders that are taking place right now in our
midst. It is as if we are ready to fall off a
precipitous cliff to perish like the dinosaurs and the mammoths. At least
half of the world population believe in some form of doomsday scenario taking
place possibly in the near future. It is sad but true that this is a
collective death wish. Why else would we keep visualizing it
collectively with so much detail? We have gone
beyond the stage where man biting a dog is no more interesting. We have reached a
stage where man biting himself out of sheer madness is news.
Despite all our efforts to entertain
ourselves by our viciousness and tragedy, let us remember that we are
not at the end of the road but rather at the beginning of it. We have just
begun the epic journey. As a race we are still in our infancy. What we have
achieved so far is but a few baby steps. We have learned but a few words. We have just started
appreciating the complexity of creation that is so interwoven with out lives.
We have a long way to go. We have many secrets to unravel. Some day perhaps we
may look at this stage in our civilization and wonder how vulnerable we were
and how nearly we killed ourselves by our own bad dreams. We are star children, made of the same
material as of stars, but
with incredible intelligence and an inner light that will outlast all stars. Whether we are willing to accept it or not,
believe it or not, we are part of the incredible story of this universe. Even
though we do not know clearly why and how it exists, we have a role to play
and a destiny to fulfill in its long and checkered history. We are here to
appreciate its grandeur, be part of it, be proud of it and at the same time mould it
according to our vision and aspirations. There are planets to reengineer and
frontiers to explore. There are many new inventions awaiting discovery and a vast amount of galactic abundance yet to flow
into our lives. This appreciation of our destiny and our greatness as
a species is important because it will help us appreciate ourselves
collectively as a group, care for others, recognize their rights
in sharing the abundance of the universe and
become responsive to the problems and challenges that we face collectively.
It will motivate us to pursue
success for the greater good and most importantly, to recognize the value
of all life on earth that is so essential for our survival and survival of
our planet. Acknowledging our superior intelligence, adaptability and
incredible problem solving skills is therefore the first step in our effort
to achieve individual success and happiness. Countless people cross our
paths every day. We either brush them aside or brush past them. In our
eagerness to achieve some thing and do something we ignore our deepest
connection with the rest of the humanity and the role it plays in our
happiness and well being. Imagine right now how many thousands of people
might have worked invisibly to connect you with this article through the
medium of internet! Whether we like it or not, we are constantly shaped and molded
by the thoughts and actions of others. Millions of invisible and unknown
people shape our precious moments. Every thing that we have or we enjoy is
created by others. Whether it is the food we eat, or the books we read, or
the clothes we wear or the computers we use, they are part of your life
because people unknown to you invented them, designed them, created them and
brought them to you. In doing so they enriched themselves and enriched you in
return. It is true you have them because you worked for them or earned them.
But it is also a fact that without these people they would not have reached
you.
Appreciating Ourselves
Self-realization is the utmost and highest goal that we as human beings
can aspire. There is nothing like knowing oneself fully well. It will help us
know what we are, where we stand, what our true purpose should be and how we
can get there. However self-realization is something that goes beyond
ordinary effort. It goes even beyond our successes and failures and all our
ambition to be something and reach somewhere. It is the path beyond all the
paths, which comes when we eschew all seeking, striving and craving. It is
the effortless and highest knowledge of self that our seers and sages talk
about. This is a very difficult goal which perhaps very few individuals ever
truly realize.
So we are not talking here about self-realization but self-awareness, that is becoming aware of
ourselves and appreciating whatever we are and we have. It is knowing about
our strengths and weaknesses, our likes and dislikes, our vulnerabilities,
passions and emotions, our aspirations and ambition, our fears and anxieties,
our concerns and our beliefs, how and why we react in certain ways to events
and circumstances and how we can put our god given resources to the best of
our advantage, with least inconvenience to ours. Having self-awareness is
very important. It is not a difficult goal. It is easily achievable either
entirely by your own efforts or with the help of others. It leads to
self-confidences, faith in our selves and self-esteem. It makes our plans and
projects realistic and achievable. It provides us with an opportunity to work
on our weaknesses and use our strengths. It leads to inner happiness because
we are in harmony with ourselves. And most important of all it makes us more
humane. We all have some degree of self-awareness, but perhaps not enough to
deal with ourselves and our abilities efficiently. We have to dig through
years and layers of prejudices, conditioning, logical fallacies, emotional
blocks and untested beliefs to find out who we truly are. By learning to
observe ourselves, we become sensitive to our own needs, actions, motives,
emotions and relationships and accept ourselves unconditionally for what we
are.
Appreciating ourselves and appreciating others is therefore an important
aspect of individual happiness and prosperity. It is also the sacred path of
the enlightened masters. It is the source of love that flows out of
enlightened hearts towards all without distinction, preference and condition.
It is also the secret of the success of those who have a passion for service
and interest in people. In business it manifests itself as a excellence in
quality and customer service. In individual life it manifests itself as
family relationships, voluntary service and appreciation of life in general.
Under right circumstances, it leads to self-actualization and inspired
leadership.
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