BY EDISON MARTE SICAD
“HE IS NOT the idealistic young man he had been back at home. Being in power had changed him. He had become too in love with power. And so, he was willing to make too many compromises in the name of clinging on to power.”
Mona Charen, a Conservative columnist, had this to say about Mitch McConnell, the longest serving senator in US history. Mona Charen’s abovementioned conclusion, about the life of a man on a mission to make it known to everyone that he is in control, had a nostalgic tone.
Sometimes, in the eyes of other people, who we were is much preferred than who we have become.
But circumstances can make or unmake a man.
There is no Peter to answer our question in proclaiming our identity or manifesting our destiny. But who do you say that I am?
In the past couple of months, life reminded me of the book of Dr. Wayne Dyer entitled Pulling Your Own Strings.
Allow me to share these three sentences from his book:
1. “Your inevitable ‘existential aloneness’ simply means that your human existence is unavoidably predicated on your being alone with your own unique feelings and thoughts.”
I speak very little. In other words, I seldom share my thoughts. I can handle a conversation. But if given a choice, I would rather keep quiet. Some people do not like this side of me. I would sometimes feel guilty about this behavior of mine.
But sometimes I would ask myself:
“Why do some people tell me that my quiet or shy and timid ‘social skills’ need to be changed? (As if they know me better than I know myself) Are they more knowledgeable as to how I ought to behave?”
But then I realized that there is no need of any explanation.
2. “Being quietly effective means that you don’t have to tell anyone else about your victories to make them meaningful to you.”
This statement was clarified by the author. The sharing of one’s achievements is not that unhealthy at all. In fact, it can inspire others. But if you need to inform the others first before you can find meaning in your accomplishments, then that’s a different story.
This approach to life really made me think. We don’t “share” something because it was successful. It was successful because it was “shared.”
3. “Be your own hero.”
Or be the villain. Be the enemy of your old, mediocre self. Oppose the herd mentality. Contradict the mass media culture. Or as written in another book, have the courage to be disliked.
But this life philosophy needs a lot of introspection, and deep humility. To be authentic and idealistic, a person must learn to have a high adversity quotient: to teach oneself how to withstand social pressure and personal doubts. Not to be lazy, and to be persistent.
We can start with a simple — but difficult — habit: punctuality and working diligently (less FB time at work). This could already be enough — or heroic even. (To be continued)PN
