Be yourself..!

The other night I was watching a beauty contest with my wife, and we both noticed that all the contestants, whether they were from Punjab or Kerala, Pondicherry or Kolkata, all looked more or less the same. Same straight hair, because all of them had straightened their hair. All of them fair, because they had all used some fairness cream, and very little difference!
I realized that people were trying to look like what they thought was good looking and losing the looks God had given them. Today what the world needs are individuals, but what  we see more than before are clones. Though we are all created to look different, think different and speak different, we find safety in being similar, and therein lies the problem. In similarity comes lack of conviction and courage. We don’t want to stand out and be different. 
But do you want to be a clone? “To be nobody but yourself in a world that is doing its best day and night into making you like everybody else,” said poet E.E. Cummings, “is to fight the hardest battle.”
One of the deepest carvings of young people, especially teens, is to be liked by the group they mix with. They want to be accepted. Like all of us, they want to be valued. It’s during those critical teen-age years  that they begin to play a game called “Follow the Follower.”  The game is not the same as “Follow the Leader.” Following the follower is about talking, dressing, acting and thinking like one another. Everyone follows everyone else.
But think again: In adulthood, we should discover who we really are and do our best to grow into that person. We find our value, not in being accepted by others but because we believe in what we are. It’s a wonderful day when we can say in honesty, “I know who I am and I’m glad I am me.”
The lovable children’s author Dr. Seuss got it right when he wrote, “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who don’t like you, don’t matter and those who like you, don’t mind you being yourself!’
“It takes strength to swim against the tide.”
“It takes courage to speak up.”
In the end, your success will always be a result of your being yourself not an imitation of somebody else. Whatever your ambitions, your greatest success will be because YOU are the best YOU possible and nobody can do it as well as you..!
    
    [email protected]

Be yourself..!

The other night I was watching a beauty contest with my wife, and we both noticed that all the contestants, whether they were from Punjab or Kerala, Pondicherry or Kolkata, all looked more or less the same. Same straight hair, because all of them had straightened their hair. All of them fair, because they had all used some fairness cream, and very little difference! I realized that people were trying to look like what they thought was good looking and losing the looks God had given them. Today what the world needs are individuals, but what we see more than before are clones. Though we are all created to look different, think different and speak different, we find safety in being similar, and therein lies the problem. In similarity comes lack of conviction and courage. We dont want to stand out and be different. But do you want to be a clone? To be nobody but yourself in a world that is doing its best day and night into making you like everybody else, said poet E.E. Cummings, is to fight the hardest battle. One of the deepest carvings of young people, especially teens, is to be liked by the group they mix with. They want to be accepted. Like all of us, they want to be valued. Its during those critical teen-age years that they begin to play a game called Follow the Follower. The game is not the same as Follow the Leader. Following the follower is about talking, dressing, acting and thinking like one another. Everyone follows everyone else. But think again: In adulthood, we should discover who we really are and do our best to grow into that person. We find our value, not in being accepted by others but because we believe in what we are. Its a wonderful day when we can say in honesty, I know who I am and Im glad I am me. The lovable childrens author Dr. Seuss got it right when he wrote, Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who dont like you, dont matter and those who like you, dont mind you being yourself! It takes strength to swim against the tide. It takes courage to speak up. In the end, your success will always be a result of your being yourself not an imitation of somebody else. Whatever your ambitions, your greatest success will be because YOU are the best YOU possible and nobody can do it as well as you..! [email protected]