In today’s world, where all of us want to bolt towards success, do we really think before taking actions, or have we all become so blinded by the pursuit of perfection so much so that we have forgotten our steps down the way? Today there is no place for emotions in one’s life. We are all robots governed by our own demands and the expectations of others. People have lost the human touch and are no longer bothered about others. The word ‘satisfied’ cannot be found in one’s dictionary, and greed is in vogue. The bracket of barbaric actions has been reduced as most of such actions are now becoming acceptable in the society (or aren’t opposed). So what do we do? Either we become a part of it by being silent watchers, or we try to make a change, by being the change. As correctly said by someone “it’s going to remain crappy until someone does something about it and somebody’s got to be that someone”.
So what now? Do we get all pumped up like we do after seeing or reading something inspiring and start a revolution in our heads? Well I don’t think any of that is required. All we need to do is a small scale initiative. Not a candle march, nor a hunger strike, just some personal effort and you are good to go.
So here is a brush up on all the long forgotten values (that we all obviously know about but tend to forget living our hectic lives) –
Patience-” you get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it open” – Arnold Glasow
Today everyone wants everything to happen in just a flick of a second. All of us have forgotten the lesson we had learnt during our childhood through the story of the tortoise and the hare. When life tests us by sending hardships towards us, we should be able to maintain poise, and measure all odds before taking any action, and all that is possible only if one is patient. Patience helps one regain control of one’s mind when negative thoughts overpower it. So here’s a tip that might be helpful to imbibe this quality. We shouldn’t stick to a thing for days all together, but should instead give ourselves some time to ponder upon our mistakes and try to find a solution. Rational thinking as I mentioned above helps us to channel our negative emotions, that lead to impatience, towards a more useful approach required in the situation.
Humility– Humility is an underrated asset. Humility should not be confused with meekness or low self-esteem. Humility is a virtue which helps us assess our positives and negatives and improve upon them. Humility helps us stay grounded as it helps us confront our imperfections, and accepting them is what opens more gateways of improvement, ultimately leading to a success in life. Some tips that will help you become humbler are- try to take criticism as a positive feedback. Another important thing is to be a good listener. Everyone just wants to blurt out their own thoughts and opinions without giving the other person an opportunity to speak. It’s true that it is more difficult to be a listener than a speaker. Listening can help one get a whole new pool of ideas to think about while at the same time breaking our self-created barriers that restrict our positive change.
Gratitude/ Gratefulness– We always crib about the things we don’t have, but do we ever cherish the things we already own? This never-ending urge for materialistic things has surely made us ungrateful. Gratitude not only means appreciating others, but also means feeling grateful for what we have. Gratitude can help one find inner peace. Once we start appreciating what we have, our longing for materialistic things automatically decreases. We have all been selfish- remembering others only in times of trouble. We all need to start counting our blessings, as it will make us more optimistic. Well, one major change or a step towards being more grateful is to stop taking everything and everyone for granted. We all tend to overlook their efforts and that’s what makes us thankless. We need to have a broader horizon of the world and that is possible only by appreciating, all creations of God.
By inculcating these values, we can change for a better future. Change is the need of the hour; only dead fish go with the flow. You never lose anything by trying, but you definitely lose something if you don’t. We cannot change ourselves overnight, it will take weeks, months or even years for us to see the results, the only condition being that we start trying right now.
Written by Muskan Dang (1st year)
