The Reason, The Revolution
It’s been a month since I put up this website. Just
like the rest of you, I have been juggling the responsibilities of work, life,
family, and relationship. The habit of writing has helped me a lot. So, I thought
I could publish the same in form of blogs. But after writing about a dozen
articles, sitting unpublished in my laptop, I realized how difficult it is to give
a general advice through an article in comparison to actually guiding a friend right
in front of you.
I even shared them with my close friends and
the response was something like this, “why would anyone read ‘your’ article?” It’s
a fair question. Why would someone listen to me when I talk about career or
relationships, even if I have already navigated through them successfully? Why
would anyone trust me, especially when I am doing it all for free?
This made me question myself. What the hell am I
even trying to achieve with all this? I started without a plan just because my
knowledge helped a few people in the past. Is that a reason enough for doing this? It
doesn’t even make money, which is actually the loudest remark made by my family
… that there’s no money in it, so why do it?
Having fought with these thoughts for a month
now, I realized why I started it albeit unintentionally. The system and the
society keep pushing us to excel at whatever we do, be it studies or sports,
from the very beginning. Those who are unable to run fast live a life of mental
distress, not because they are stupid but because they are made to believe so. While
the lucky ones who are able to perform well and beat the competition are just expected
to keep performing all their lives. No matter where they go, they are evaluated
on their current achievements, recent promotions, or a new house they bought. It’s
as if the world will stop if you don’t achieve anything soon.
Belonging to this latter category of
high-achievers, I realized I had been surrounded by similar people at college
and work for long, surrounded by those who had been running aimlessly to
achieve something that’d bring more praise and reassurance from their parents
and society. I have deep sympathy for those who were with me as they are still
struggling for the sake of others, to please others while rejecting themselves
and their own identity in the process. They are the ones I am writing for.
On the other hand, I still remember the friends
from school days who fall in the first category, the ones who could not run
fast enough. I relate to them more than the high-achievers I spent my adult
life with. And the reason is that I have been one of them as a kid. Being unable
to achieve something even after putting in the efforts … well, I have had countless
such experiences. I am sure you must have had too.
Having been on both the sides, I have come to
realize that it was never about whether you won or lost the race. It was mostly
about who bought in the fear that was sold. The fear of failure and getting left
behind was so deeply inculcated in us that the ones who bought it and acted
turned into high-achievers (like me) while the ones who collapsed grew up as
average-performers (like my best friend). Regardless, both of us have been the
victims of the same disease, FEAR. And this is why both of us are still
confused about our lives and future ahead.
These are the people I write for.
The average-performers who keep surviving even
in the face of ugly educational systems, poor societal structures, and ignorant
family environments ... they are no less than the so-called high-achievers who are
unable to achieve themselves.
You and I, the survivors of this ignorant
world, are the reason I write.
To bury the fear of failure, I write.
To be able to meet the true self without needing
any title or achievement, I write.
To extinguish the ignorance drilled in us, I write.
To bring about a revolution, if Lord permits, I
write.
And even if it doesn’t lead anywhere, I will
still write.
So, here it is, here I am, here I write.
Hope it helps!
...
Thanks for understanding,
from Khavi Darpan.
