Elevating our perspectives

Next time when you meet a kid in the neighborhood, praise him (or her) that he (or she) is good at Math or Drawing. It does not matter he was good at it before or not, but now he wants to be. That is the power of praise.

Let us say you are among a group of friends or relatives. One of them challenges you saying you can’t achieve some thing. Your ego will be set on fire. You will focus all your energies on proving him wrong. Criticism can be a wonderful motivation too.

Take a step back and reflect. Both praise and criticism are external stimulants to which we react. But we can’t go on pleasing others around us, we would be tired soon. Similarly, we can’t go on proving all our opponents wrong. Our lives would become purposeless. Instead we need to be guided from our inner desire to achieve something.

Gandhi was undeterred by sarcasm of The British. Gandhi was just an example. Thomas Alva Edison was unfazed by his series of failures. Alexander the Great did not have a single moment of self-doubt. Praise him or criticize him, Buddha would smile, always. History is full of such personalities. All of them had one common thing. Clarity of thought and knowing what they wanted to achieve in their lives.

How does one get clarity? Wider the options you keep for yourself, the more confused you will be. Reject your thoughts based on their merit and retain only few that appeals to you most. Then it would become easy to focus and pursue. Some might get there by deductive thinking. Forcibly filter your ideas of life until you are left with actionable few. Repeat and revalidate until you are left with clear objectives. If you are struggling, meditation can help. It steadies your body, slows down your breathing, calms your nerves and then gradually rejects your thoughts. It produces clarity.

Once you have clarity, your life will become a meditation. Then you know what you want from life. When that becomes driving force, praise or criticism will fall on your wayside. Your elevated perspectives help you overcome shortsightedness, distractions and how others measure you. Clarity also gives you patience on your path towards your objectives.