Unfake it

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!