"Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings" That is what Shakespeare said,in Julius Caesar, and oh was he true! What instigates an ordinary person to become extra ordinary? Where does all that motivation actually come from?
People often point out the endless injustice that life confers upon us more often than we would like.There is always a phase where they will either curse themselves or their fate,or perhaps any Tom, Dick and Harry around them for whatever is going against their planning and hopes.What I think is,why life puts us in situations where we don't want to be,is not something we can help.What we can help is holding on to who we are;at the grassroots level.Where the uniqueness and distinctive "X- Factor" of our characters lies.That's really something very difficult to catch hold of.For me at least.
There are unreasonably numerous occasions when time and people make me wonder whether I really am something out of the box.Frankly,I still don't know.Because for me,rare are those people who are born with a golden fate.For most,fate is the malleable clay that they have to mold according to their dreams, their aspirations,and of course, their sense of belonging.An acquaintance of mine had once asked me a question that shook the cornerstone of my reason of living."When you often sit down to ponder about yourself, what exactly do you think you are made for?"
Ever since that day, I have developed a strong conviction that this question is the Quintessence for self-confidence.I mean,come to think of it, how many times do we really sit down to infer whether what we are doing today is really what we always wanted to do? Something we needed really badly in our purpose driven lives,so badly that we could not do without it?Something without which our life would have no meaning?
Many,if not most of us are shepherd driven flock, only that our shepherd happens to be the inevitable opinion of "people" ; whether it be our acquaintances or kith and kin.But can these people,who [and it has happened around me more than often] haven't really fulfilled what they themselves wanted at some time in their life,really help us know and understand who we essentially are? Can others really judge our worth, and our sense of purpose or the importance of our profound aspirations better than we can? Their experience and idea of the "big bad" world is valuable, no doubt. But how sure can we really be that they are not delving in conventionalism just because of what "others" will think about their awkward offspring who wants to pursue a career or a style of life that is usually shrugged off? And my question is,who are these "others" anyway? People who have successfully adapted themselves to playing someone else every single day so that they please a majority with their masks of falsehood?
Why are we so scared of standing out?Why is the black sheep so condemned amongst the whites?Why,if it were not for these awkward ones,we would still be apes....And yet people have the audacity to say,"They were great people,something drove them on from birth...we are normal and ordinary"....This normality has become annoyingly synonymous to conventionalism...And it troubles my being to no end.....We are made to feel ashamed for trying and failing rather than for not trying...Is that really safer?I doubt...
"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting", said EE Cummings, which is not only a formidable thing to do but also a bitter truth which the mob will superficially deny. Yet you inevitably have to face obstacles when you express your small-voiced desire of doing something that has been declared as "off-limits", either by people who think it is inappropriate,or by those who assume you to be "below the standards". Hence you go on to believe that probably you will forget about it if you don't give it a whole-hearted try or just a chance to sprout into a beautiful dream-come-true example.Yet at some point in the time ahead, where you tend to get restless with the monotony of life and wish to indulge in self-introspection, this tiny question will definitely haunt you:"Would it have worked out had I given it a chance and not succumbed to what everyone except my heart had said?" And henceforth,till perhaps your last days,you will keep dodging that question with endless excuses yet it will fail to convince you,because you DID NOT TRY. You did not have faith enough to step out of the line and experiment with your life,make it your never ending adventure.
Hence these thoughts that creep into me from nowhere, uncannily drive me to the conclusion that being extra ordinary is at the end of the stair case; the first step is to allow yourself to try,simply try doing what you think you would love to do.Its this step which will take all the courage in the world, the freedom to defy, and the brave belief that you can gather yourself together in case of failure.And do not regret if you fail,it only happened because you needed to know how to get better, and where to start from.
Pleasing or boring,as it may have seemed on paper,these thoughts will definitely urge you to think over, even if for a moment,and that one moment will throw light on all your unspoken desires and unaccomplished dreams.For those,who have been patient enough to reach this point,I will conclude [to the great relief of some of you] with the quote that "Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation". So says the author,Oscar Wilde.So what are you waiting for?Its high time you have an opinion of your own,being true to your originality.Your untouched colours are beckoning you...Go on and finish that painting you always wanted to see on the wall of your beloved house one day.....
Cheers to life!
