No Two People Can Have the Same Skill Set
We are unique in our own ways
Today, I had an exam. I did exceptionally well in the computer test, but the practical implications were terrible. Sadly, I could not clear it and will have to reattempt. My failure did not bother me, nor am I scared to try again. I have always been ready to embrace challenges and would love to practice more.
A painful incident occurred; my mentor reminded me that someone else, in just ten days, achieved what I could not, and someone younger than me did even better. I felt like I had not met her expectations.
After hearing this, I felt a trigger of binary emotions: the pain of not meeting expectations and the feeling of being incapable in a world of brilliant giants.
Out of respect, I could not argue with my mentor. With my eyes down and shoulders slumped, I apologized, and we did not exchange a single word. For a moment, I wished if I could erase my identity, as if any student named Paras had ever existed.
But my heart pounded, why was I apologizing? Is failure a sin? Is a second attempt a crime? Or is fixing mistakes foolish?
No two people are the same. If I am good at baking, my sibling might excel in sports. If my friend is an excellent teacher, her friend could be an exceptional writer.
I love reading books, and they rescue me after a bad day. I remembered The Winner Stands Alone by Paulo Coelho, where he says:
The mirror reflects perfectly; it makes no mistakes because it doesn’t think. To think is to make mistakes.
Out of curiosity, I opened this book again and recalled the lessons I had learned over the years. The pages absorbed my sorrow, shouldered my grief, and reminded me that today was simply not my day.
I learnt the concept of Perhaps. Perhaps I was not in my comfort zone, perhaps I needed more practice, and perhaps if not today, then the day after tomorrow I could make it up. Perhaps, perhaps, and perhaps my teacher would turn back and give me a thumbs up.
But the latter never happened.
This book reintroduced me to the forgotten concepts of growth. Then, I came to the page about frogs where the writer says:
Do you know anything about frogs?
“Frogs?”
“Yes, various biological studies have shown that if a frog is placed in a container along with water from its own pond, it will remain there, utterly still, while the water is slowly heated up. The frog doesn’t react to the gradual increase in temperature, to the changes in its environment, and when the water reaches the boiling point, the frog dies, fat and happy.
On the other hand, if a frog is thrown into a container full of already boiling water it will jump straight out again, scalded, but alive!”
Few words break you, others create you 😋, I hope all of us choose wisely.
Thank you so much Catharsis Chronicles for helping us pour out whatever hurts . 🙏🙏
