Noel Manuel
There are so many ways of getting to the top and the situation that we create enables us to either make it there quickly or slowly. Every situation has one thing in common and that is to move forward and not backwards.
Whether we reach our destination early or late, we need to keep on moving. How quickly or slowly we move largely depends on the different situations that we create.
It is said that the progress of any country largely depends on the conditions of its roads. When the roads are good, movement of goods and people from place to place saves time, money and energy, which then can be stored for utilization of other developmental activities.
Similarly, in life too, we need to constantly pave our way so that there is a continuous surge of different situations that would enable us to move forward or make things happen. Ironically, this does not happen very often in life. We knowingly depend on others to pave the way and create situations. As a result of this dependence, our journey to the top gets slower, delayed and tiresome.
I have often overheard some people confess how hard they worked and the long hours that they spent in office. Yet, their objective or the pinnacle remained far from reach. Now why is that so? Why is the effort of this section delayed and at times gets so irksome that exhaustion creeps in and the pinnacle is never conquered.
There are two reasons for this. The first is ‘risk’ and the other ‘defiance.’ When we can ‘risk’ believing in our ideals and ‘defy’ to create situations of our own, there is every possibility that the path will be paved well and early to journey us to the top.
There are many success stories and paths that have been paved. Some of them overnight while others over weeks and months. And each of these stories bear the dual labels of a common manufacturing force. ‘Risk’ and ‘Defiance.’
Examinations and interviews are practices that somehow always get the better of our nervous system and we generally cough up all the answers that we otherwise would never have, when we are relaxed. So then what is the recipe to overcome interviews and examinations? These are situations that are overcome more by risk and less by one’s efficiency or capability.
We all know that things don’t always go as planned when we are preparing for an examination or interview. No matter how we prepare ourselves, the tide always comes unexpectedly.
In most situations I have come to realize, that we never really lose, until we quit trying. And we quit trying, when we fail to take risk and prevent ourselves from believing in our ideals that ‘defy’ the creation of our own situations.
As Katherine Mansfield had once said, “How can you hesitate? Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinion of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.
We need to act for ourselves and not make others act for us. We need to create situations for ourselves involving risk and defiance instead of allowing others to create situations for us involving their risk and defiance. We need to pave our own paths and not depend on others to do that for us.
The world has no place for cowards. We must all be ready to toil, to suffer and to die, said Robert Louis Stevenson who rightfully pointed out that ours is not the less noble because no drum beats before you when you go out into your daily battlefields, and no crowds shout about your coming when you return from your daily victory or defeat.
The definition of success does not only mean getting to the top of the pinnacle. It is largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.
A group of people attending an interview session for the posts of cabin crew were eagerly awaiting their turn. Among them was a young man in his 20’s and he kept walking up and down the aisle. Everyone else, seated on the left and right side of the corridor could not help, but take a glance as the man marched along. He did not look at anyone but simply kept murmuring to himself as he strolled the corridor. His behaviour got everyone nervous and further distracted them. Finally, the young man’s name was called out and he disappeared into the interview hall. No sooner had he entered, he emerged from the interview with a smile. A curious onlooker couldn’t help but ask the man about the outcome of his interview. The young man said that he had been appointed as steward. Surprised by the man’s short interview and positive outcome, the onlooker was now eager to know the questions asked. The young steward said, they asked me, what according to you, is the best way to serve a passenger. I merely responded by saying that I was prepared to take risk, involving my own life, to save the lives of fellow passengers in case of a tragedy. I showed defiance in my words and perhaps my risk and defiance secured me the job.
Every second of our lives we are confronted with various problems that prompt us to either create situations of our own involving risk and defiance or just sit back and allow others to do it for us.
The more we involve ourselves to create situations, the better we are paving our path that could make our journey smoother, easier and quicker to the pinnacle of success. When we allow others to do it for us, we are not quite too sure how early our journey could take off.
Life itself is a journey and there are many pitfalls along the path that would definitely delay our day-to-day movements. If we are to move to the pinnacle of success fast or at least make it there during our entire lifetime, we need to start paving our path today. Neglect this and we may never see the pinnacle at all.
noelmanuel@rediffmail.com
The writer is the Bureau Chief (Nagaland) of Eastern Panorama (News Magazine of the Northeast), Coordinator of the Northeast Region (Poetry Society of India) and Life Member of the Poetry Society of India, Phonetics Trainer.
