We all have some goals in life – personal goals, professional goals . . . and for some of us even spiritual goals. But have you ever thought what makes us decide those goals? And how our life is dependent on some axiomatic assumptions that we might have made very early in our life? Let me explain.
Suppose a teenager has a goal of joining the Army. From where did this goal come? Probably one of his parents or relatives served as the inspiration or may be a movie. Now, this teenager starts preparing himself for his goal. Regular workouts, practice tests etc. and so he grows strong and capable to join the army. And by the time he is to decide the career path for himself, ha has every reason to believe that he is 'made' for the Army. But it is actually like this – since he wanted to join the army, so he prepared himself for it – this is the simplest manifestation of the phrase “You are what you believe yourself to be”.
Now, if this teenager was given an opportunity to go back in life and change his first decision and he this time feels that he is meant to be a computer whiz. Now he stops any playing or workout and simply devotes all time to studies – so this same individual ends up being a nerd, physically weak, but master of computer programming. Can you see how dramatically the outcome of life has changed for this individual?
Now, you would say – “what’s so great about this?”. In the light of both the above paragraphs is the question that probably Arjun asked to Krishna – “What is the purpose of life?” If just one decision could change the purpose of life, then what actually was the chosen purpose? For example, in the case I described why was the mentioned teenager born? To become a nerd or to become a soldier ?
This is the cyclicity of life – you aspire what you feel you are ‘fit’ to be. But as soon as you aspire, you also start a reverse process to ‘fit’ yourself better to your Goal. But is your goal realy the one that you choose it to be? Are you really a perfect 'fit' for it? So what is the goal then? Just a mirage ?
And imagine. Somehow the goal you have been aspiring for all your life, disappears suddenly – your life will become totally empty! You have no goal to aspire for, and the ‘fit’ that you assumed between your goal and your personality existed is somehow now a fallacy. Because you are what you believe yourself to be. But now that your goal is no more there, there is no reason for you to believe what you believed yourself to be right in the beginning. You are now forced to think - had I set my Goal to be X and not Y, what would I be like today? The same as I am or different? And this 'fit' that I see now between me and my chosen goal, would it still be valid if I would have chosen a different goal to start with?
Confused? Well .. I too am dealing with this confusion for the past few days. If anyone reading this blog has any inputs or answers do post them as comments or mail them to nikhiluk_in@yahoo.com. I will be waiting. ;)
Suppose a teenager has a goal of joining the Army. From where did this goal come? Probably one of his parents or relatives served as the inspiration or may be a movie. Now, this teenager starts preparing himself for his goal. Regular workouts, practice tests etc. and so he grows strong and capable to join the army. And by the time he is to decide the career path for himself, ha has every reason to believe that he is 'made' for the Army. But it is actually like this – since he wanted to join the army, so he prepared himself for it – this is the simplest manifestation of the phrase “You are what you believe yourself to be”.
Now, if this teenager was given an opportunity to go back in life and change his first decision and he this time feels that he is meant to be a computer whiz. Now he stops any playing or workout and simply devotes all time to studies – so this same individual ends up being a nerd, physically weak, but master of computer programming. Can you see how dramatically the outcome of life has changed for this individual?
Now, you would say – “what’s so great about this?”. In the light of both the above paragraphs is the question that probably Arjun asked to Krishna – “What is the purpose of life?” If just one decision could change the purpose of life, then what actually was the chosen purpose? For example, in the case I described why was the mentioned teenager born? To become a nerd or to become a soldier ?
This is the cyclicity of life – you aspire what you feel you are ‘fit’ to be. But as soon as you aspire, you also start a reverse process to ‘fit’ yourself better to your Goal. But is your goal realy the one that you choose it to be? Are you really a perfect 'fit' for it? So what is the goal then? Just a mirage ?
And imagine. Somehow the goal you have been aspiring for all your life, disappears suddenly – your life will become totally empty! You have no goal to aspire for, and the ‘fit’ that you assumed between your goal and your personality existed is somehow now a fallacy. Because you are what you believe yourself to be. But now that your goal is no more there, there is no reason for you to believe what you believed yourself to be right in the beginning. You are now forced to think - had I set my Goal to be X and not Y, what would I be like today? The same as I am or different? And this 'fit' that I see now between me and my chosen goal, would it still be valid if I would have chosen a different goal to start with?
Confused? Well .. I too am dealing with this confusion for the past few days. If anyone reading this blog has any inputs or answers do post them as comments or mail them to nikhiluk_in@yahoo.com. I will be waiting. ;)
I think that ur starting premise itself is not correct. “You are what you believe yourself to be”. On the contrary, i would say you are someone. And as your study in this goes deeper, it is said that you realize that you are everyone else too!! That belief is the one that is supposed to be misleading. It is a fact that since u live a life on earth, you must have something to hold on to. But why not try to be a free bird, just flying wherever the currents take you? It can be a dangerous thought; feeling like you don't have control over yourself. But, it might be reassuring in the sense that you busy yourself in realizing the true YOU while doing something / anything on the professional front to just sustain your life on earth...
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