The Masking Tactics

Hussnain Rashid
Aug 8, 2017 · 2 min read

Jonathan Trott had a serious mental breakdown during Return Ashes in Down Under in 2013. This event is not memorable itself (to me) but what was touching about the event was Martin Crowe’s analysis of Trott’s problems and Crowe’s own story. The Martin Crowe piece, The masks we wear, is a very good analysis of his own story of faking success until he had made it but, it never happened until he was faced with cancer. Where he could not fake it any longer.

Our daily lives are pretty much similar stories except that we never care to think about how we carry ourselves. We present ourselves as genius, but we fail to pass university statistics course. We talk highly of honesty, and blame those who do not share their assignments for submission. The problem is simple, we fake it too much.

None of us are invincible. Let’s face it. We are flawed.

We can face the truth or keep faking like Martin Crowe. Presiyan Vasilev is the ‘World Public Speaking Champion’ for 2013, a competition held by Toastmasters International. In his speech for the final, Presiyan shared a very simple story of him trying to change a flat tire of his car. While he could ask for help from a man at the gas station across the road, he did not. Because why an intelligent man like him should ever ask help when he’s taken to be capable. He tried, and failed. This trying and failing cycle continued for a while till he eventually conceded. That’s it. I should ask for help.

Asking help is one the worst thing that can happen to our the might of our self-esteem because it implies that you are not good enough. Yet, it can be the calm you lack in your life. Martin Crowe believes that success is “accepting who you are”. If you can’t accept your failures and weaknesses, you can never be dedicated about improving on them.

I believe human spirit is the toughest thing in this world. The power that took Americans on the moon, made J.K. Rowling lose her billionaire status owing to charity, escalated a mediocre cricketer to Pakistan’s best captain, and which brought injured and limping Ronaldo back on field during Euro 2016 final.

But, this very spirit is the reason we should respect the people we live around. These people deserve to be asked for they might not be as good as you are, but could be somehow better