In the journey of life, amidst the trials and tribulations, two pivotal lessons stood out, shaping the very essence of perseverance. Rooted in the wisdom of maternal guidance and the clarion call of Swami Vivekananda, these principles became the cornerstone of my ethos. Today, as I traverse through various platforms, imparting knowledge and insight, the significance of perseverance echoes louder than ever.
Two most important secrets of success in life were taught by my mother when I was a school going student during the formative years of my tutelage are “TRY, TRY, TRY, AGAIN, IF NOT SUCCEED, TRY AGAIN” and Swami Vivekananda’s clarion call, “ARISE, AWAKE AND STOP NOT TILL THE GOAL IS REACHED”. I have been propagating these dictums of success to my children and to the generation next through my workshops and as a visiting professor in various management institutions. These two aforesaid values of life are the precise meaning of perseverance.
The Webster dictionary meaning of perseverance is, “continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition: the action or condition or an instance of persevering.” But the nature and human tendency is to take the path of least resistance which means that they want easy success on a platter without any effort by seeking external help and even ready to go through dubious and wrongful ways. Otherwise, how one can explain the mass copying in the examinations with the connivance of the invigilators, leakage of examination papers which are becoming big scams requiring investigation by CBI. If this trend continues in the educational or in any other similar fields abetting such unsavory activities probably using technological advancement including Artificial Intelligence if becomes vogue in the future education system and governance, influencing and luring evaluators of exam answer papers including interviewers etc. then the purpose and quality of education and quality selection on merit will be completely eroded. It is again a harsh truth that the respect and reverence the older generation had for their professors, teachers are being castigated by the students under the existing educational system prevailing now.
If anybody thinks that true success in any field can be achieved without hard, consistent and persistent efforts but through only external help, short cut and wrongful means is a myth. Those who aspire for effortless success do not understand that such wrongful means hurt not only themselves but also others and nation’s economy and wealth. They also do not understand that they possess much more than what they know about themselves to achieve success. What Swami Vivekananda said about education is worth recalling. He said, “Education is the manifestation of human perfection in man.”
Can any cricket lover but remember the year 1983? From sheer obscurity to the world’s limelight, the Indian cricket team reached the pinnacle of success and then never to look back after winning all forms world cups achieving number one rank in all forms of the game. Is it mere chance or luck that catapulted the Indian Cricket team from sheer obscurity into the realm of great success? It is through perseverance, consistency, team efforts and quality training. How Viswanatan Anand became the Chess world champion and highest rated Indian Chess Player? Was it fluke or luck? Not at all but perseverance and hard work and training. Are the great record-breaking achievements of Niraj Chopra in Javelin and that of Saina Nehwal becoming world No. 1 in Badminton mere fluke? Recently, the news that a 17-year-old prodigy D. Gukesh unseated and overtaking the highest ranking from Viswanathan Anand? Did anybody give the ranking on a platter? No. Hard work and perseverance. Can any Hockey lover of India ever forget the golden era of Indian hockey when India used to win the only Gold Medal in the Olympics and which hockey player can forget the chief architect of the golden wins and the wizard of Field Hockey Major Dyanchand and his exploits in the field which attracted the admiration of even by one of the world’s worst dictators Hitler during the German Olympic? Many such instances happened all over the world can be quoted in this regard. All the success and great exploits of anybody in any field of activity are through sheer hard work, determination, dedication, discipline and unquenchable perseverance and the ever preserving will to win.
Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying in spite of the adverse situations happening in their lives when there seemed to be no hope at all. Every thing is achievable by ordinary talented people through their perseverance. If we scan the pages of history, we will find that many failures occurred because those who failed did not realise how close they were to achieve success when they quit. “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.”
The holy book of BHAGAVAD GITA, the sermons of the Lord Krishna to Arjuna on the guidelines for the success of professional, social and the personal lives says, “Perform your obligatory duty, because action is indeed better than inaction” and “Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his footsteps, and whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.” I end with the following quotes from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.
“Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; for it becomes your destiny”.
And
“You are what your deep, driving desire is.
As your desire is, so is your will.
As your will is, so is your deed.
As your deed is, so is your destiny”.
Author Bio
