Sunday, February 21, 2010

Living your Desires

We think and desire all the time without any break. These two are innate activities in every human being. Did this thought ever crossed you mind, how many of these thoughts and desires do we pursue in our life? Let us take a simple example. Most of us grow up being taught by our parents, teachers, elders that honesty is the best policy. It seems to be the best way of living a happy and relaxed life in our childhood. But, how long do we live with it? On the other hand, once I learnt "2+2=4", I never get it wrong afterwards. What is the difference in the two? Why could I follow later always correctly and not the former? Because, I did not just hear the latter from my teacher and memorized it; rather I understood and verified it or realized it for myself. Therefore, point which I want to make is clear. Once you realize something, it becomes of your own. You have its authority. In the first case, we heard something from our parents and just borrowed it from them. We assumed it to be true without giving any thought. We never verified whether this is what makes me happy and I want to do. I can never be authoritative about this idea. Therefore, when I go to apply it in my life and face testing circumstances, my belief starts shaking and after a critical point it just breaks.

Conviction is, to have firm belief in a thought, to be without any other option in that aspect, having confidence that it is the only way of life which makes me happy. A thought leads to a conviction only when I verify it for myself on the basis of my natural acceptance as well as ensuring mutual happiness by living it in my behavior and work. Once I have verified and realized a thought and I am sure to pursue it, commitment is necessary to make it work. Commitment is, following a conviction with determination; it is the feeling that "I must do it". If conviction gives you the confidence in your thoughts, commitment gives you the courage to pursue it. It is imperative that once you have a conviction, commitment flows in automatically since you don't have any other option anymore. Consistency of these two is necessary to achieve long term goals. Consistency is pursuing a conviction without any deviation and exception. Consistency of your conviction and commitment always reaps the desired awards in your life. On the other hand, inconsistency always leads to doubt in your determination and abilities. Even a single exception to your views can invite criticism from others, especially if your beliefs are not very common and you are trying to bring some change. Therefore, Conviction, Commitment and Consistency are the keys to live your desires.

3 comments:

  1. hmm... interesting thought, the first time I read it, I felt I faced a bouncer. On reading it again, I understood a litte. You are thinking very deep and at a very high level (~Philosopher). The reason why I felt that way is, you tried to start with an example of general though process of human beings, which was quite simple to understand, there was a sudden jump from one level to a very higher level and they could have probably been connected in simpler sentences.

    Now coming to the topic of discussion, Conviction, Commitment and Consistency and connecting them with desires, I think if you use the word 'goal' or 'ambition' instead of desire, as desire is a much broader term and often misleading, and I am sure you are refering to the former case only. But nevertheless having these three qualities will take one a long way.

    Let noble thoughts come to us from all sides!

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  2. Sala comment karane ka race laga hua he jisme hum har jate hain.
    Mere blog pe main khud comment dalane wala hun aur fir hi post karane wala hun.
    Well put , but on SRKs lines I will say desire is a rather a bit tricky word as desires can cause a stir in the domain of morality , legality.
    But thought process is put forth is worth implementing and accepting.

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  3. Hey! A very nice post. One of your better articles I think :-)
    A quote from Swami Vivekananda on a similar line: "Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success."

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