Friday 1 June, 2007

WHEN EVER WE MAKE MISTAKES....

“To err is human,” says a proverb. I think that, I need not have to expand and explain why we do err? Can any one show me even a single person who had made no mistakes till date? It is highly impossible right. But, do we dare to admit this? No! We never try to admit our mistakes. (“If anyone who claims that he never did a mistake should be considered as a person who never tried anything new”).
The legendary poet of all times, Yogi Vemana (who needs no recognition) in one of his poems stated, “Every one does err. We can find people all over who always try to point at the faults of others but never try to admit their own.” Even I am not an exceptional case for this statement. I do many-a-mistakes and always stand first in pointing out the faults of others. But to my belief, I had never hurt any one when pointing out one’s faults, because, I was aware of the fact that, “If you know what hurts you, you know what hurts others.”
But there are people who blame others. Finding faults may not hurt people that bad but blaming does matter. We must not take it for granted the people who blame us, “Nobody can hurt me without my Permission (Mahatma Gandhi)”. Instead, we must ask them to prove us wrong (If we are genuine). We must not quarrel or argue with these people. As, Willie Jollie in his book, It only takes one minute to change your life, stated that, we should not quarrel with idiots because it is similar to wrestling with a pig. Even we must not blame others without any proof. We must cultivate a habit of “searching others for their Virtues and thyself (Own) for Vices but not vice-versa.” For developing this habit, we must “Observe all men, thyself the most”.
One must build the courage to raise the voice against the wrong. Winston Churchill said, “Courage is the best quality which guarantees all others”. No matter if you are left alone, show the strength that you are there to fight for the Right cause. Henrik Ibsen said, “The strongest man in the world is he, who stands alone.” Never wait for any one to support you. Our Father of Nation, “Mahatma Gandhi” is a classic example to illustrate that how he had fought against the wrong rulers. Remember life is real and you are the one who can play your role better than others. Thus, your courage towards life does matter.
I know that, it gives a kind of happiness (Ego satisfaction) pointing out some one else’s mistakes which itself in turn is an other mistake we make with a conscious state of mind. Yet we ignore. As ignorance is always afraid of change, we do enjoy our unchanged attitude. But one has to remember that, our ignorance leads to exchanging the arguments samely as we see in the case of the knowledge which exchanges discussion. Better discuss with people than to argue. Discussions will help us become a good human being with a better attitude.
According to Paul ‘Bear’ Byrant, whenever we make a mistake, there are only three ways we should ever do about it. The first thing is to “ADMIT IT”. Believe it or not, but I do admit my mistakes without any hesitation. Though it looks like self-drumming, people who knows me better, know that, I am gifted with that Courage which not only helped me to Stand-up and Speak (Whether in admitting my own mistake or pointing out some one else’s) but also to Sit down and Listen (To those who point out my mistakes). Why I am saying this is admitting a mistake needs lots of Strength and Honesty of course. Saying "Sorry" with in itself is an art. An art that strengthen our character. No one (including I, in the world) likes to admit his/her own mistake and take up the responsibility on his or her shoulders, as it is a matter of reputation. We never risk our character for the sake of reputation. Of course, Reputation is precious but at the same time Character is Priceless. Indecision (Here I mean, not admitting mistake) itself can prove to be our worst mistake ever. Believe me, if you admit that you’re wrong, you show the world that you’ve grown a little wiser and if you attend well to your character, the reputation will look out for itself automatically. And you’ll be definitely appreciated for your courage. (Example: the character of Victor played by Jimmy Shergill in the movie Lagey Raho Munna Bhai).
The second thing that we should ever do when we do a mistake is, to “LEARN FROM IT”. Plutarch once said, “To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes, the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.” Though it is not quite simple but it is not impossible too. Zarathustra said, “One who learns nothing from the past will be punished by the future”. Therefore, it becomes a necessity to learn and the only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. Others judge us by what we have already done and once if we learn, it takes less time to do a thing right than to explain why we did it wrong. Thus, we can make things set right which seems to be in a hopeless condition.
The third and the most important thing is, “NEVER REPEAT A MISTAKE”. You might be aware that we all do repeat our mistakes again and again constantly due to our love, favoritism or say addiction. (Example: Smoking, Drinking, Drugs, Gambling and what ever that is wrong and unhealthy to both self and society…etc.,). On 1st January every year, each one of us make an oath that we might leave a bad habit for ever, say for instance, drinking but never do it. Beware, we might fool every one else around us but never try fool ownself. Do not try to repeat the mistakes whatever you feel are wrong. List out the bad habits that you’ve cultivated and try to chop them gradually and try to chop them forever. Try to conquer your fears (Bertrand Russell said, “To conquer fear is the beginning of the Wisdom”) and be honest to yourself as an honest individual is satisfied with himself as much as others are satisfied with him and remember that being good to yourself and liking what you do is the first step to success.
For doing all these, you must develop a strong will power. And to my belief, “This world itself is filled with willing people. Some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.” If you wish to change yourself then no one will dare to interfere with your work/decision as each one of us are equally busy. You must learn from the mistakes you did in the past and never be afraid of the storms that occur while you learn how to sail your ship in the ocean called “Life”.
Finally, there are some cases where, “Even a mistake may turn out to be the only thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement (Henry Ford)”. These are really exceptional cases, which occurs very less often but yes it happens. Therefore never fear to try something new unless it is bad for both your health and your society.
In conclusion, I would like to share with you a popular quotation of Thomas H Huxley, who said, “The great end of life is not knowledge- but Action”. Therefore, I request you all (applicable to I also) to start working on improving the personality not just by reading these motivational articles but also try to implement with courageous attitude and just go ahead in your life.

Thanks and Regards,
SRIKANTH.C,
M.TECH (A.I.),
UNIVERSITY OF HYDERABAD.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Srikanth......

Hope you remember me..... I have read your article on When ever we do mistakes....... its really nice.... Sometimes reading that i felt that all these things are know to us but still we never practice them..... its nice to have people like you who just remind us all these goody things amidst this busy life..... never stop writing all these things........ your 3 way approach for a mistake is very good.......hope we all follow it.....Good thought for this weekend...... carry on and give us many more such good articles ahead ALL THE BEST

Regards,
Vamshee