Some years ago, my school friends informed me about a particular girl from our batch, who committed suicide as she hadn't fared well in her college examinations. She was a brilliant student at school - a trait which followed her to college, too. Sadly, during one of her exams, fate did not stand by her side and she failed to obtain the marks she had expected. Unable to face her parents and the world, she decided to end it all.
There are a million such people out there, who failed to achieve success in their life and who got so dejected that they decided to give it all up. Not once did they believe that they could win it all back if they trusted themselves enough. Not once did they trust the Supreme Energy that gives us the power to realise our dreams.
On the other hand, there are a countless others out there, whose success stories prove to the world that if we put our belief, our trust in ourselves and single-mindedly work towards achieving our goals, we can win in life. A person I know closely, has faced every imaginable adversity in his life, right since his childhood. You name it, he has faced it. Failure in academics, cancer, bi-polar disorder, financial problems, parents' ill-health - he has seen it all, braved it all. And, braved it all without much support from any other soul.
He seems to be made of sterner stuff, for sure. However, it isn't true that he wasn't ever scared of the circumstances life handed him. Brave hearts, too, experience fear; they just don't let it get under their skins! Today, as I see him surging ahead in spite of every road block he faces, I agree that anything is possible , provided you have faith in yourself and your abilities and, of course, the Supreme Energy we call God. Suicide is NOT the solution to any problem in this world!
I have been a writer since some years now, but sadly, cannot boast of a lot of published work to my credit. Frankly, I can count it all on the fingers of one hand! Of course, it is not a serious life or death issue! We all go through our struggling periods, when getting due credit for our work seems like a distant dream. We find ourselves in the doldrums when we are unable to achieve the success we hoped for. I go through it, too. There are times, when it breaks my heart to realise that I haven't been able to fulfil my dreams, or those of my parents.
There are times, when I envy others who achieve the success I, too, deserve. But, there are also times, when I realise that my life has been chalked out differently than theirs, and that "every dog has his day"! I do question my abilities and my strength, at times, but good sense prevails and brings me back to reality; reality, that I am a good writer. It's just that I need to polish off the rough edges, work on my craft and believe that there will come a day when my work will also be recognised.
We often make the mistake of comparing our life with that of the others. And, that's what lands us in a mess. Concentrating on our life, working on ourselves and our skills and believing that some day we, too, will be tasting the fruits of our labour, will help us achieve what we think we can't! Life is never going to hand us anything on a platter. Life is never going to be easy. We are well aware of this bitter truth, aren't we? Why then don't we take it all in our stride and gear up to face the roadblocks bravely? Why don't we believe in ourselves the way we should? Aren't we the best judge of ourselves? Don't we know wherein lies our strength? Can't we trust ourselves a little bit more?
Failure, as we should know, is just a temporary phase. It isn't going to dictate how our future shapes up, provided, we learn from our failure and work towards winning the next race. Instead of giving it all up on an impulse, if we keep striving and working harder, there isn't anything or anybody in this world who can ever take away what truly belongs to us - our victory!
Let us not be bogged down by our fears of the 'what ifs' - what if I fail? what if I never succeed? what if the world laughs at me? what if I never make it in life? Dump those imaginings in the trash can; that's where those belong. What does belong to us is our faith in ourselves, our belief that things will definitely work in our favour and that some day we, too, will be up there, basking in the glory of our success. It's just a matter of time. We shall overcome!
There are a million such people out there, who failed to achieve success in their life and who got so dejected that they decided to give it all up. Not once did they believe that they could win it all back if they trusted themselves enough. Not once did they trust the Supreme Energy that gives us the power to realise our dreams.
On the other hand, there are a countless others out there, whose success stories prove to the world that if we put our belief, our trust in ourselves and single-mindedly work towards achieving our goals, we can win in life. A person I know closely, has faced every imaginable adversity in his life, right since his childhood. You name it, he has faced it. Failure in academics, cancer, bi-polar disorder, financial problems, parents' ill-health - he has seen it all, braved it all. And, braved it all without much support from any other soul.
He seems to be made of sterner stuff, for sure. However, it isn't true that he wasn't ever scared of the circumstances life handed him. Brave hearts, too, experience fear; they just don't let it get under their skins! Today, as I see him surging ahead in spite of every road block he faces, I agree that anything is possible , provided you have faith in yourself and your abilities and, of course, the Supreme Energy we call God. Suicide is NOT the solution to any problem in this world!
I have been a writer since some years now, but sadly, cannot boast of a lot of published work to my credit. Frankly, I can count it all on the fingers of one hand! Of course, it is not a serious life or death issue! We all go through our struggling periods, when getting due credit for our work seems like a distant dream. We find ourselves in the doldrums when we are unable to achieve the success we hoped for. I go through it, too. There are times, when it breaks my heart to realise that I haven't been able to fulfil my dreams, or those of my parents.
There are times, when I envy others who achieve the success I, too, deserve. But, there are also times, when I realise that my life has been chalked out differently than theirs, and that "every dog has his day"! I do question my abilities and my strength, at times, but good sense prevails and brings me back to reality; reality, that I am a good writer. It's just that I need to polish off the rough edges, work on my craft and believe that there will come a day when my work will also be recognised.
We often make the mistake of comparing our life with that of the others. And, that's what lands us in a mess. Concentrating on our life, working on ourselves and our skills and believing that some day we, too, will be tasting the fruits of our labour, will help us achieve what we think we can't! Life is never going to hand us anything on a platter. Life is never going to be easy. We are well aware of this bitter truth, aren't we? Why then don't we take it all in our stride and gear up to face the roadblocks bravely? Why don't we believe in ourselves the way we should? Aren't we the best judge of ourselves? Don't we know wherein lies our strength? Can't we trust ourselves a little bit more?
Failure, as we should know, is just a temporary phase. It isn't going to dictate how our future shapes up, provided, we learn from our failure and work towards winning the next race. Instead of giving it all up on an impulse, if we keep striving and working harder, there isn't anything or anybody in this world who can ever take away what truly belongs to us - our victory!
Let us not be bogged down by our fears of the 'what ifs' - what if I fail? what if I never succeed? what if the world laughs at me? what if I never make it in life? Dump those imaginings in the trash can; that's where those belong. What does belong to us is our faith in ourselves, our belief that things will definitely work in our favour and that some day we, too, will be up there, basking in the glory of our success. It's just a matter of time. We shall overcome!
