Being YOU

The vagueness followed by the vastness of this theme in cohesion is highly intimidating as a novice. Its a hell of a journey if you embark on it, the struggle continues with you for a long time and will continue in varying intensities till you exist. If you think about the rewards its a life with clear conscience. Growing is a constant process of evolving and we alone are responsible for doing so by searching our own answers. There would be no fun in living if we understood it all. No hardship to overcome, no glory, no victory, no drive, no satisfaction, no content, no hunger. Such a life that we live, because we exist, can only be termed mechanical like a bot. Which is why its a solace that living essentially is… a process of finding and empowering yourself to experience yourself!

Finding is lifelong but being is a guide of now. It serves as a moral compass in your everyday life reminding yourself of what you are capable of. Let’s simplify. “You” are nothing but a system of values that function according to a governing emotion. Everyday you have choices to make whether your workplace, home or social world. Every now and then you will be at crossroads required to take action and sometimes your beliefs will be questioned which is also, where you are expected to take a stand. Taking this stand, is what i mean by “being you”.

Being you is not just saying what you want or think is right. Its is not just knowing your interests, hobbies and taste in music, work or having opinions about life derived from experiences in general. Sure, this is the beginning of our quest but not restricted to, after some point it should transcend into awareness about ourselves, Thereby expanding our understanding of us and our surroundings and reflect in our actions. Lets ask ourselves how many times have we said yes instead of no, how many times have we experienced dilemma in choosing something, how many times have we been true to what we really felt we should do? Anywhere and everywhere you read or hear the benchmark of ideal is being you, being true to who you really are! But before that, the million dollar question, do we really know who we are? Were you always able to vouch for you? Have you never surprised yourself and wondered if this is also what you are capable of? Doesn’t have to be bad, good things too, things about you that made you proud of what you have done too. That moment of truth that each experience offers in getting you more closer to your understanding of self by realising what you are made of or what you are capable of becoming. Have you witnessed it objectively? With every experience have you been aware of the changes subtle or not, in you? Have you paid attention to those very details of your nature that needed your attention? If you have gotten a reasonable idea of where im headed you would agree with me that it is a gargantuan task to be you. I wish to add that this seems to be the only way out of misery. A stress free life filled with Joy and Content.

Have you ever wondered when someone tells you something about yourself like you are a passionate artist, you’re a thoughtful person, you’re a good listener, you know how to appreciate people, what is it that they perceive about you that makes them say this? Have you ever realised that all these people who complimented you are pointing to a virtue in you that they could notice and verify as ‘genuine’. Whether you pretended to make them feel good or because you wanted to is another facet. But during those moments when you were being true to those values you believed in, weren’t you experiencing happiness and satisfaction? But its not those easy moments, where you are in a good mood or you’re happy days that decide your character, but those repeated testing times where you choose right over easy, truth over deception, honesty over image, courage over cowardice, that builds your character into identity. This identity along with your skills and talent makes us ‘Unique’. Its difficult, it takes a lot of discipline, nobody is getting there miraculously, but if you desire that strength to experience your uniqueness, its worth it.

There is no substitute for your pure desire or will to be you that will make this change happen. But Honesty, Compassion and Courage are the three innate virtues that will help you immensely in this quest. Honesty because we needs to see things objectively as they are and not as we want them to be, Compassion because it will make you tolerant regarding your and everyone else’s shortcomings and Courage to face, acknowledge and stay true to who you are. How many time have we passed this judgement that ‘people change’? This is the most randomly thrown statement ever. What changed? you, them, both, bad days? Let us keep prejudice, mood and our expectations aside and look at it objectively it boils down to ‘attributed quality mismatch’, Good and bad. Good is taken with surprise, bad with intolerance. Do people really change? I believe we are inherently good and are recognised by what we repeatedly do. Allow yourself to be vulnerable, to feel, to sense, to listen, to be guided by your own instincts. Choosing you is a privilege, take it. What one feels can never be wrong, what one decides to with that thought, is what will be termed right or wrong, Good or bad, difficult or easy.

When you die your children and family remember you for the values you added in their lives with your identity, when you leave behind a legacy people remember what you were capable of building with your character amplified by vision. When you mourn a loss you experience a void because of that persons uniqueness .Heaven and hell, anxiety and stress, good and evil, it all exists in that 16.7 cm mass between your earlobes. Train it well, nothing weighs more than a heavy conscience…You have the power, you are the grammar, you are your own universe in deeds. Stay true… Stay you…

-Ujwala Agawane