Individuality
Today morning I read my friends status message on whatsapp by John Mason, “You were born original,Don't die a copy’’. I simply loved it. So much depth in so little words.
Dipa Karmakar’s Produnova feat at 2016 Olympics is famous.But in recent interview she revealed her dream to invent a skill which would be named as Karmakar. What a beautiful thought!!
Each and every soul is different. God has gifted us all with some unique character. We are oblivious of this speciality at birth.As we grow we may know about this trait.But unfortunately in most of the cases over a period of time as we grow, we get lost in the flow of world. Almost similar style of upbringing, same kind of schooling and education, more or less same kind of career path and social setup ,we forget in day to day life that we are special.
My nani an expert cook and a warm lovable host to all people around, has always been telling us that we should possess atleast one quality which sets us apart from world around. In early years I could not understand the importance of what she tried to tell. But now I realise to some extent why our individuality, why our being special in some way is crucial in life.
Realisation of uniqueness gives a purpose to life. It enhances our confidence and gives a direction to our life. Our speciality may or may not be a source of livelihood but it can definitely be a source of happiness and fulfilment. Each of us have something special but onus of discovering is on us. This identification has no set time .Some blessed people realise it in early childhood while some realise it in latter stage of life. Whatever may be but I feel we should not stop the process till we have identified our individual special trait .Once identified we need to nurture it in best possible way.
Our uniqueness may be associated with any field or may be in any form but if properly identified nurtured and channelized, it can open up different avenues and be a source of immense positive energy for ourselves and people around us too. Music ,arts, drama, oratory ,science,philosophy, ,maths,cooking,sports,academics,gardening, the subject matter of expertise can be anything.We human beings are blessed to have special abilities distinct from all other species. Need is to identify proper opportunity and use it for our advancement .
Real joy is finding something extraordinary in our ordinary lives. Trying to live life imitating others without any understanding of our own strengths and weakness leads to failure, depression and mediocre mindset. We can never be fully happy.I feel envy, dissatisfaction are all byproducts of living an ordinary purposeless life. Realisation of individuality and consequent efforts to nourish it in all circumstances definitely yields return in long run in form of respect, recognition and strong character. This realisation and path to excellence can keep us occupied constantly leaving no room for boredom and frustration. Geoff Gaberino has rightly said,"Real contest is always between what you have done and what you are capable of doing.You measure yourself against yourself and nobody else"
Recently in a gettogether, a friend of mine realised that her baking skills are well appreciated by all.She decided to take it up as a profession and today she is excelling in that field.
If we see around, it this consciousness and perseverance to excel that has made ordinary people like us famous, successful and extraordinary.Be it Steve Jobs,Sachin Tendulkar,Mary Kom,Chef Sanjeev kapoor ,common factor is that these people recognised their calling and worked towards it.
Sustaining Individuality in competitive and stressful world is tough and needs a lot of courage,hardwork,faith and patience.I know we all cannot become world famous but this does not undermine the importance. We will atleast have the satisfaction of living a rich purposeful life leaving a mark on people around us. There is always a possibility of innovations, inventions and success when we are working as per our uniqueness combined with immense pleasure generated naturally. This process will in long run improve quality of life of individual as well as society in general.So friends identify accept and nurture and your individuality.
It is aptly said,
“When you know yourself you are empowered, when you accept yourself you are invincible”
