Opening Statements

To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.

Anatole France

Venkatesh Jalaj a.k.a. VJ, a good friend of mine, once sent me the following write-up, which proved to be an instantaneous source of immense inspiration and encouragement. He very rightly titled it "A question of Perspective." Upon reading it (something which I continue to do, every once a while), I came to learn that much of life's 'so called' hardships can be scaled down in effect by the manner in which we react! I'd like you to read this wonderful piece of work by VJ and take a look at your perspectives and alter them if need be, and most importantly feel inspired when the going gets tough. Read on..,

At times in life, one stops to re- examine if the steps one took were right or wrong. What seemed right then, may now seem wrong in hindsight. Listening to the advice of family members or people known to you may have turned out to be hideously wrong. Advice is free, but the consequences are not. The consequences are yours to pay.

Every person is responsible for his actions. At the end of the day, it’s your life. From my own life all I can say is this, learn to think for yourself. Have the courage to fight against people who oppose you. No matter how close or how dear they may be to you.

You should know your interests and how to stand for them. Being a martyr to someone else’s dreams or desires is no act of greatness, merely horrendous imbecility. With the courage of conviction, and an invincible faith in yourself and God set out on your path. The trials will be daunting, opposition trenchant and incessant. At times, you will want to give up. Energy may desert you, the mind may grow feeble. Despondency, depression and loneliness will be your constant companions. Yet, you will move on. Keep your mind open to changes, in people in circumstances. Learn to utilize both to your advantage. Learn to understand people, their strengths, weaknesses and ways of thinking. Do not look for acceptance, if you succeed it will come on its own.

Doors may close, opportunities turn into a mirage, faith may be betrayed but persevere. Slender may be the thread of hope, but remember it’s all you have when you are facing a crevasse.
Don’t let the thought of the rope snapping drive you to loosen your grip and plunge to destruction. Victory and defeat aren’t in your hands but if you consider yourself beaten, you are. No one, I repeat, No one can save a person from himself. Through the hours of struggle, the longer nights of loneliness, when you have none but your miseries to warm the cockles of your soul, do not let go. Convince yourself to face your sufferings, not by avoiding them, not by seeking to flee from dream to dream, not by seeking to escape from reality, but by looking them straight in the eye. Train all your energy to work as weapons in your struggle. Do not let the maelstrom of dedicated opposition weaken your resolve. Use your creative and other energies to fashion a new persona. The crucible of pain is unforgiving, but it produces the best steel.

Then one day, the clouds will part, the sun will shine through. It will never seem possible, yet it is your belief in its coming which will make it possible. It's power is awe-inspiring; your faith will give you the strength to reach it.

When the ordeal ends, your face bathed in the sunlight of success, of recognition, of acceptance, you will scarce believe that the struggle is over. Applause will follow, your life will change, and success will make all that happened seem a dream. The world will accept you as one of its own. The world loves the heroic story of the underdog who made it. His heroism is applauded, yet the same world excels at kicking the underdog while he was making the very same great story happen. When you look back at your path, you will wonder if all those lonely nights, those hopeless days were worth it. Others will have attained more than you would have and faced none of the problems you had to endure. Look at the faces which now smile at you in acceptance. Each one of these faces has experienced the beautiful afterglow of success. These faces have not faced the misery which you have faced and are the poorer for it. In order to appreciate the taste of sugar it is important to know the taste of salt. You have seen the different faces of human behavior and are the richer for it.

Now ask yourself the question again …………The answer is obvious.

Awarded

MultiMenon has been very kind to award me the 200% awesome web-blog award. I am very appreciative of this wonderful gesture of his which has come as tremendous encouragement and recognition. I'd like to roll-over this award to all of my fellow-bloggers for being the wonderful people that you are. Via this, I'd like to imply that each one of you has within yourself the power to motivate, innovate and excel. We may all be unique in our own right and measure, but the DNA that we carry within us is programmed to bring out the best in our thoughts and actions. We may adhere to differing schools of thought, but in the end, our purpose complies with the general good of creation and hence all of us, irrespective of our religion, caste, creed, colour, gender and other differences, are one and part of a single institution, the institution of human beings! This award is therefore a platform to celebrate who we are!