While the world challenges us every day with new problems, and hurdles, there are so many avenues which often go un-noticed. Avenues from which we can draw inspiration, people who can teach us a thing or two, kids who can tell us that not understanding everything can be perfect, and not stupid. Our life is actually very simple, but we try every bit to make it more complex; not because we like complexity, but because in the absence of complexity, we feel that we are missing out on things. Or worse, we often tend to think that if our life is not complex, we would not be able to show our importance to people, we won’t be able to impress people.
We spend a major chunk of our lives impressing people. To make people feel that we exist, that we are important. And in all these events we forget that we don’t pay attention to prove the same to our own self. We forget to tell ourselves every morning that we are important. There is always an invisible race going on, a race to be smarter, better, and to be the best. It’s great, it is a much-needed drive to be successful. But have we thought over the fact that it makes us prone to be “safe”? sometimes too safe. We fear to fail, we fear to take risks, we start treating life as an investment – an investment from which we always want positive returns, even if the return is boring and stagnant. That’s my friend is a problem. A problem which you will not understand now, but will repent as time passes by.
Today, I happened to meet a person at a restaurant. A student from my business school, who has travelled all the way from a different continent to study at the US. Generally, among students, my school is well known for business studies, and I believed that she was here for the same. She somehow knew me, and introduced herself to me. A smart person, who would do excellent if she wanted to study business. On my asking, she said that she was not here to study business, but something which I never thought of pursuing when I was a student. Eventually I understood how easily she took her decision. She was not fearful of failure or scared about the future. She does not want a safety net. She just wants to do something which she really likes. She is not running after what everyone else does, she is running after her passion. I was amazed.
As we grow, we like to see everything as an investment – an investment of time, money, presence, likeliness/unlikeliness, etc. When you see things as an investment you think of diversifying risks, make the best out of what is available, sometimes knowingly stagnate, and not tap into opportunities which could be really great in the long run. Somewhere you are scared to fail, fearful to be embarrassed of the “What-if” situations. But then we are all humans, and all of us can fail, we are allowed to fail and make mistakes. So breathe, take chances – even if the idea seems crazy and stupid. Set realistic goals, just analyze properly your idea once, and if you feel that the idea is worth considering, then just pursue it. If you win – great, if you fail – think something else. But don’t stop doing what you are best at.
Arnab Pandey 