Recently I attended a gathering and the host suggested that we share our life experiences and how they impacted our family and friends, maybe even our work and community. When it was my turn, I responded "Challenges and choices are what make life. Without either there would be no purpose."
"How do you mean?" said the host.
"Challenges push you to move ahead and
overcome it, to succeed and in the process of doing so, you choose which path to
follow and what to do overcome the challenge life threw at you!"
"So tell us about who inspires
you!"
"I am inspired by everyone around
me."
"True, but there must have been one
person whom you aspire to be. Isn't it? Someone you think is at a higher place
than you which you would like to reach."
That is when I realised that without even a
pause I could confidently say that there was no one person like that and I did
too. "I really do not aspire to emulate one person. For me, every
individual I have met and read about in my life is an inspiration, but they are
all peers. Age, race, religion, status, gender or sexual/political inclination
was not something that I saw as a hierarchy. For me, these are just attributes
associated with a person, not their identities. What differentiates them is their
attitude and behaviour and this is something I do try to emulate when I think
it is something worth emulating. Even my children can inspire me and I will
listen to them if there is a learning in it for me."
I am not sure if I made sense to them or
not, and I do not know if this is something that would relate to any of you as
well, but I have been this way from the time I can remember. My friends' circle
was and still is the most diverse with people from all walks of life, belonging
to different age groups and ethnicity. I have always felt that this diversity
is what helped shape me into who I am today. This is what inspires me to write
as I come across different interesting & inspiring stories from this group
of contacts. It has helped me see the world from a different perspective and
gives me hope that love and acceptance of what is, can always bring a sea of
positive change, that can only benefit the community as a whole.
Some of us enjoy being the privileged lot
for reasons that we may not fully comprehend. Let us use this position of
privilege to embrace those who aren't so lucky and be the support that we would
want if we were to find ourselves in their positions. Drop all the differences
and accept everybody as equal - in the true spirit of #EachforEqual,
exponentially increasing the happiness quotient in this world!
Republished from Momspresso, as they closed down in 2023. I wanted to ensure that the broken links opened to the right article.
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