Be Yourself! Be the change
We all love the word ‘change’. Many of us want to change their jobs, many people want to change their lives, they want to change their appearance, they want to change their change mindset, people want to be fit, people want to look beautiful, people want that they should be admired and appreciated by all. Everybody virtually want to be a celebrity whose photo should make everybody mad on social media that is the reason why thousands of ‘selfies’ are dumped every single day on social media. In our India everybody wants a change. Whenever we see a dirty road or pits on the ground or corruption in any government department we start thinking of change.
NO ANGEL FROM HEAVEN WILL COME TO SOLVE OUR PROBLEM
First make your mindset clear that No angel from heaven will come to solve our problem. We are the stakeholders. The problems we see in any system are direct or indirect results of our inactions. When the people responsible for any system are neglecting the system or inactive in the system, these problems take a very big form. Let me give example of one of the problem which we see regularly. In Ahmadabad, an artist saw a very big pit on a busy road. He thought that someday, a big accident may take place here because of this pit? What to do in this case? He was an artist. He called his colleagues and then with his brushes and paints drew a picture of a big snake killing his prey on the road. As soon as, he finished his picture, it caught the attention of print media then electronic media. Next day, the authorities responsible for the road were forced to give statement on the print media that the road will be repaired at the earliest and hence the problem was solved. The moral of the story is quite simple shoulder our responsibility and be the change…..
START SOMETHING IN THE DIRECTION OF CHANGE
Change is a universal phenomenon which is described in Bhagwat Gita. When the mightiest warrior of the world Arjuna was reluctant to fight the battle of Mahabharata, Lord Krishna explained him that Change is the rule of the societal world, everything in the world has to change according to time. Nobody can stop the change. Arjuna told Lord Krishna that he cannot fight with his Gurus, his Great Uncle, his brothers and friends who were with Kauravas. Krishna replied that all those Kauravas are against the religion and those who are against the religion will definitely be destroyed even if he didn’t fight with them. Lord Krishna gave him various examples about the change and convinced him to fight and Arjuna brought the change…..
STEP OUT FROM YOUR ‘COMFORT ZONE’
I know a lot of people who want to change their lives. While traveling or in social life or in professional life I meet a wide variety of people. Most of them often discuss with me that they want some change in their lives. One of my friends is very health conscious. He has tried almost every possible thing to reduce his tummy. Whenever there is photo session in some of our programs/ functions, my friend is always worried about his tummy. He tries maximum ways to hide his tummy but every time the photo highlights his big fat tummy. Once he boldy asked me what he should do with his tummy. He was so obsessed that he asked whether he should undergo any surgery to remove his tummy. I cooled him down and simply asked if he could go for a morning walk and or if he could do jogging or any other physical exercises. He replied that he has a habit of getting up very late in the morning and he is helpless against it.
Here lies the true problem, he wants a change in his life but he does not want to step out from the comfort zone. He wants to look fit and healthy, he wants hide his tummy in the photos but he does want to sweat. He does not want to get up early in the morning and walk to reduce his tummy. So, the best thing for change is to step out from your comfort zone. If you want to be successful in you work, step out from your comfort zone and concentrate maximum in your work. If you are a student and want to score more marks in the exam, step out from your comfort zone and read for more hours. If you want to be the change, step out from your comfort zone. Sitting at home and cursing others while watching T.V. or posting big big things on Social Media will lead you to no where.
WHO HAS GOT THE TIME?
In social life as I am working for Environment, I am in contact with many people in our country. After launch of every Environmental project of our committee, I call our Committee members and inform them about the project and what is expected from them. As this is an honorary service, many of them complain about time. Most possible answer I get almost every time is “We don’t have so much extra time”. Many also say “You all people are free so you can do these activities but we have our own business to mind”.
Once I was very much angry with this type of reply from a Committee member. I explained my schedule of whole day to him that I work for 12 hours daily in my teaching field then also I spare time for my family and also social service work. This is not a magic, this is time management. Many proficient writers, teachers, speakers in modern day are becoming successful in different fields. The main reason for their success is the have the skill of time management. One of my uncle regularly say that in modern day nobody has time but everybody must ‘steal time’ for becoming a change. So, ‘steal time’ from your regular routine for the change.
BE BOLD FOR THE CHANGE.
Friends, do you know what conservatism is? Conservatism is a basic human instinct. There is another quality in all of us that fights against our curiosity. It is the quality of laziness or the desire to go on doing things in the ways to which we have accustomed. As we grow older, we form habits of thought, as well as habits of action, and it is a nuisance to change them. So we persuade ourselves that it is wrong to change, and when someone comes along with different ideas, we don’t like it. This is called conservatism that is, the desire to keep things as they were.
Here, the game becomes interesting there is one more quality in us which makes us different that is curiosity. It is the basis of intelligence and progress. People get into trouble when they think and act differently so many are content to think as others and the way they been accustomed. The best thing to do in those circumstances is to be bold for the change. Don’t worry about the results but the first and the most important thing for change is to be bold.
“It is far better to live like a lion for a day then to live like a jackal for hundred years” – Tipu Sultan.
WAIT FOR RIGHT TIME TO STRIKE, HAVE PATIENCE
For bringing a change, wait for the right time to strike. You should be patient enough for the right time to stand for what you believe. If you want to change a system, you should essentially be the part of that system. You should be able to understand and analyze all the stake holders of that system. Then find the right time when you can be the change in that system. For this, try to visualize a T-20 match. In many of the matches, in second innings when the condition is much tensed with only few deliveries remaining, the captain calls the best bowler to bowl. He doesn’t want to finish the match in last over. He wishes to uses the best bowler in the best time zone when he could create some extra pressure on the opponent batsman and force him to make mistake at a crunch moment. Even the commentators say that Cricket is the game of handling pressure and handling nerves. So, wait for the right time to strike against odd situations, your opponents or circumstances. Losing temper or bursting into tears may lead you to nowhere or make you feel helpless. The best possible thing is to wait for the best time to strike.
EXPLORE THE OPPURTUNITIES
In life, God has gifted and He will gift all of us a lot of opportunities. The best thing we can do is to identify those opportunities. Don’t try to evaluate as big or small chances or flukes. Sometimes a small idea or a small opportunity can be game changer incident for your life. When you study the lives of great men of our age, one thing you will definitely find similar in all of them is that they made the most of whatever opportunities they got. Whether you learn about life and success of Steve Jobs or A.P.J Abdul kalam, Sachin Tendulkar or Dhirubhai Ambani, They all got a small opportunity in their lives, they welcomed those chances and made their destiny and become brand ambassadors of change in various fields. Steve Jobs himself has described his life in a speech.
HOPE FOR THE BEST
If you want to be the change, hope for the best. I know a friend who left a job to start his own business. He tried his best in his new business but after one year suddenly he closed his business. He gave the reason that he thought he might not be successful in that business and so he again joined that job which he didn’t like. What is this? As per my opinion it is just a hopeless case. First and foremost condition to start a business was hope. You should never lose hope whatever happens. When you have hope in yourself, you have the God with you. So never lose hope. My friend did one thing correctly that is ‘Hope for the best’ but another thing was done by him ‘prepare for the worst’. He did not do any preparation for the worst time in business.
So, the moral is “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst”.
Value
JRD Tata had a friend who used to say that he misplaces and loses his pen very often. He will use only very cheap pens so that he need not worry about losing them. He was worried about carelessness habit.
JRD suggested him to buy the costliest pen he could afford and see what happens. He did that and purchased a 22 carat gold Cross pen. After nearly six months JRD met him and asked him if he continues to misplace his pen. His friend said that he is very careful about his costly pen and he is surprised how he has changed! JRD explained to him that the value of the pen made the difference and there was nothing wrong with him as a person!
This is what happens in our life. We are careful with things which we value most.
If we value our health, we will be careful about what and how we eat;
If we value our friends, we will treat them with respect;
If we value money, we will be careful while spending;
If we value our time, we will not waste it.
If we value relationship, we will not break it.
Carelessness is a basic trait all of us have; we know when to be careful!
Carelessness only shows what we don’t value.
So, care for everything you have ………….
Commitment
“Most people fail not because of lack of desire, but due to lack of commitment”
The last thing which will prove to be a catalyst for the change is commitment. People love this word ‘commitment’ a lot. They expect others to be committed whether it is relationship, public life, job or at business. When it comes to them, they try to remain without commitment. This is a major obstacle for change. If you want to be change remain committed to your goal, your values, ethics and your beliefs and I am quite sure you will be the change which you want to see…..
BE YOURSELF: BE THE CHANGE
Written by:Bhavin H Jobanputra
Address:C/o. Unity English Academy,
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Ab: Rajbhog Sweets,
Gondal.
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