Be Yourself

By Liza Khungar
God has created the whole universe with innumerable living beings. Each of us is a unique individual with unique characteristics and capabilities. But the irony with us is that we do not recognize our unique qualities and always envy and imitate others. And in the end the result is disastrous. We try to acquire those things which are not inherited within us and we cannot master those no matter how hard we try.
This yearning to be someone else we admire or we envy is inculcated within us from the very beginning. Parents are sometimes responsible for this. If their child is good in sports but is not performing at par with the so called the most brainy student of the class, the parents will keep on comparing their child with him and will keep on insisting to be like him not realizing that they are suppressing their child's development by forcing him to be someone he cannot be and preventing him from doing those things where he can excel one day.
This attitude then becomes our habit once we grow up and we always want to be like the people whom we consider in one way or the other superior to us. We fail to understand that we all are children of God and he loves all his children alike and he cannot make one superior over the other. The only difference is he has distributed the qualities. When we see beautiful models walking down the ramp, we all want to be like them. We imitate them and this desire is cashed upon by the companies manufacturing the beauty products. We don't realize that the beauty lies in the eyes of beholder. The physical beauty is going to fade away with the passage of time. It is only your inner beauty that will earn you respect and fame in the long run.
Society too is responsible to a large extent for this behavior. For instance we often see in Sachin Tendulakar's son another great player in the making. There is peer pressure on him to be like his father. But he may not feel the same. He may not have the same interest in cricket. He might want to be a doctor or join any other profession he wants to.
Stand by your principles and ideology. We often see people confused between the Indian and western traditions. They want to imitate the West but in the process they separate themselves from their roots nor are they absorbed by the foreign society. Be yourself in what you are and follow it by your heart and people will start respecting and following you. Do not walk blindly behind others but use your own intellect and power to make your own paths.
We have to realize our true self. We have to recognize our potential. Be proud of what you are. Put in your best efforts in whatever you do. Success will come sooner or later. Do the work you love to do. Even if you earn less it will give you the satisfaction you have been longing for.