I love the Smirnoff advertisement
with the mantra “Unfake It”! It is a topic which I have always pondered upon
and the ad coaxed me to put a few words in writing. The one requisite which is
primary to success is the attitude of being true to oneself. Direction,
dedication and hard work are definitely required. One needs to put in a 100%
into anything that one does, except when donating blood, of course. But first,
one has to be true to oneself. Only then will all that effort be channelized in
the right direction. Otherwise, we will inadvertently find ourselves navigating
an open ocean at breakneck speed without having an inkling of where we are
heading or we will end up imitating or following others. The latter will also
not help us realize our full potential. We may be successful but not happy. Hence,
it is necessary to understand and be true to ourselves.
I remember the first time I went
to a party with my friends to the most happening place in town. This uber cool
place happened to be the only hot place in town and the party was in the late
afternoon as any gallivanting after sunset was out of bounds because I was in
high school at that time. Hence, the hours
spent beyond the ‘curfew time’ were inversely proportional to the amount of
pocket money received at the beginning of the succeeding month. In hindsight,
the effort put in to look “cool” was preposterous to say the least. My shirt
was wrinkle-free and even my pair of jeans was ironed ramrod straight. My shoes
were polished to such a shine that one would need goggles to look at them. I
took almost half an hour to gel and design my hair and I am not even a girl ;)
Well my sentiments were shared by all my friends and the spick and span pack
went to the most-happening-place only to ape the older, more experienced patrons
to look cool and then returned home with a acute sense of having achieved
something, mixed with a copious amount of awe and confusion. Well, that was
ages ago and we were kids. My friends would agree with me if I said, that today,
we might as well walk into said happening places in our night pajamas and flip
flops for all that we care. This is because somewhere over the years, we learnt
the fact that we are who we are and anyone who wants to accept us need accept
us as we are. If they don’t fancy that, well nobody is to blame. They have got
their lives and we have got ours.
Interestingly, there are people
who are old enough who just do not get this little titbit ingrained into the 2
kg brain of theirs! Have you met that
person who gloats about the superbike worth a few tens of lakhs which his son
crashed? Ask him whether his son survived the crash. Probably that will set him
thinking what he values more. Have you seen that person waiting in a car at a
traffic signal suddenly getting busy on the cell-phone because a beggar comes
up near the window? All they need to do is look at the beggar and say they
don’t have any change to dispense with. One doesn’t lose anything by saying a
no at times and beggars are humans. They can understand what a No is. Have you
seen celebrities with sunglasses glued to the face like they were born with it,
acting as if nothing affects them when all the while they are scrutinizing how
people around are looking at them? If only they removed those sunglasses and proffered
a smile, they may win themselves more fans. Have you seen that boss who refuses
to interact freely with his subordinates and throws that air of authority
around? Somebody needs to tell him about the thin line of difference between
demanding respect and commanding respect.
So if we think about it, just
being our self and not putting up a show of who we are not, simplifies life to
a great extent. We will be amazed at the results that will ensue too, whether
it is in our personal or professional life. That is simply because we will be
devoting our time and effort on the issue that actually needs attention. It
will definitely boost our self confidence and help us see the larger picture.
So I conclude by saying Unfake
It, throw away that mask. Let people see who you really are and enjoy every
moment of life because the creator in his infinite wisdom made you unique!
