Lessons of Life: part I
An imporatant leisure time activity for me is: retrospection. I like to look back at events in my life, particularly the nasty ones. No, I'm not a sadist. Looking back at such events, I find, teaches me some of the most invaluable lessons I have learnt in my life.
Portions of my blog would be devoted to these "lessons of life", with the hope that when things go wrong I can see through these entries and perhaps guage what went wrong...
"what do you care what other people say of you"
Last year, during our rather sleepy Social Psychology lecture, I learnt the reason behind this statement and a dozen or so of my pains... "We shape our self concept based on what others have to say about us".
Now thats a really dangerous situation.
I realized through a rather unmemorable experience that most people usually bitch more than praise you, so if you were to listen to people you would probably end up feeling like a sore loser with few strengths and more weaknesses.
But I LEARNT that such people are the BIGGEST losers, for their happiness lies not in their own accomplishments but in putting down others, maligning others and all that has to do with these "others". They may have more money than you, much better grades than you, a happy family life..but unfortunately god forgot to teach them that happiness lies inside you..not outside. So they continue to seek it through external means like being unforgiving to people with certain weaknesses and marring their existance.
So if you are feeling let down by SUCH characters..fret not. They may paint a different portrait of you to the world, but would that really alter WHO YOU ARE? Never...so just take such people and their barbs, in your stride.. because truth cannot be shrouded for long. Sooner or later people will notice the REAL you.
Unfortunately for these people, with all their wrong, one time notions...things will not get good because in your improvement lies their downfall.So be it. period.
Disclaimer: The people I speak of are those who I have witnessed in the entire two decade span of my life, not just at one specific time. So this lesson has been replicated several times over and there is no potential for the opposite to be true...