Conquer the impossible?

In the days when I was avidly looking for and reading those self-improvement books (Till I decided that I cannot improve myself? Yes. So?), I was looking for that magic pill that would make me into a whole new me without much effort on my part. What I now think is that this whole business of self-improvement hinges on the idea that people are always looking for a magic wand type of solution to the problem of sorting themselves out. AND, no honest philosopher or psychologist HAS that magic wand. The most that they can do is make it SEEM easy.

Tiru does not even bother to do that, generally. HIS were the times which did not seem to believe in sugar-coating. OR, as some would like to argue, we had already discovered the ill effects of sugar consumption. Anyway, here he goes...

Arumai udaiththendru asaavaamai vendum perumai muyarchchi tharum - Tirukkural

To persist in your efforts, without giving in to feelings of inadequacy is the greatest strength - Loose Translation

Too often you would come across those who would claim that they were by far more talented than the other guy who did better than them in life. For every one case where that success was unjustified, there will be three where the failure of the the former and the success of the latter is merely a question of persistence.

Talent is the ability to think up ideas and solutions AND to implement them. But...think of it this way. UNLESS you think of yourself as CAPABLE to become an entrepreneur, you will not even be thinking up ideas for start-ups OR you will only give them away to someone else to implement it. Whether you are only an adviser or employee OR the owner of the business depends upon your own feelings of the adequacy of your abilities to handle what is needed to handle the pressures of entrepreneurship.

AND, if you think of something as impossible for you to do, do you even apply your mind on solutions to the obstacles in your way? When you see an obstacle as insurmountable, the only solution you think of tends to be to abandon the project with the least loss possible. It is only when you start thinking of overcoming the obstacle that you devise ways for surmounting it. AND you think of overcoming obstacles only when you cease thinking of yourself as being inadequate to the task.

This is how people who are talented can lag behind...by being overcome by thoughts of inadequacy. People with lesser talent, perhaps, but who do not allow a sense of personal inadequacy to stop them from persisting with their efforts...such people succeed.

In short, it is not a magic wand that leads to success. It is indomitable persistence that does.

Remember the fallen?

There are such a lot of things that will bring about your downfall if you forget them. The way things are, there seems to be no joy in achieving success. I mean, it is all very well to succeed but all these guys cluster around you screaming about how difficult it is to retain the success you have achieved with such difficulty. What's the point in huffing and puffing up the mountain only to be told that you need to keep running on a treadmill in order to stay on the peak?

Tiru is as much a disappointment as the others in this.

Igazhchiyin kettaarai uLLuga thantham magizhchiyin maindhurum pOzhdhu - Tirukkural

Remember those ruined by their neglect when you fail in your duties due to the joy of success - Loose Translation

Actually, though, most success IS like that. I mean, like, if you want to become CEO of Microsoft and you do become the CEO, it is not like you can then lie back and enjoy life, right? Most of what you count as success is only to reach a position where you need to work more, not less. So, if a Satya Nadella or Sundar Pichai decides that his life is a long series of beach vacations...well, that CAN be true. ONLY, those long vacations cannot run concurrently with being CEOs. The joy of success has to be succeeded pdq (pretty damn quick in Boomerese) with the nose pressed harder against the grindstone than before.

AND, if you are looking around for 'those ruined by their neglect' and are not finding them in your vicinity, hark back to our laddie, Aesop. It is just for people like you that he created his fictional characters. In this specific case...the hare of the hare and tortoise fame. THAT bunny assessed his success half way down the race course and enjoyed his success with a nap. Whereby...I'm sure you know the story.

You can run like a hare and still lose the race if you allow the joy of success to so intoxicate you that you forget to do your duties. So, there.

Identity

A man is known by the company he keeps. This seems to be a common belief in almost every society. After all, it is easier to identify a person as belonging to a community than to assess his individual character. AND if you assess a community as having a certain type of character, then you just merrily judge the individual based on his community. Voila, it obviates any need to judge the individual which would be for YOU to do. Instead, you apply a rule book developed by others which allots a certain character to a community AND assess the individual's worth based on the community to which he belongs.

Tiru says here...

Manaththaanaam maandhark kunarchi inathhaanaam innaan enappadun chol - Tirukkural

Though a person's own mind determines his attitudes, his character will be assessed by the company he keeps - Loose Translation

'Inaththaanaam' could well be taken to mean his community which then would translate to the community that he was born in. This then could be Tiru's tongue-in-cheek commentary on the fact that, though people may have their own mind and character, Society will assess them based on their community.

OR, even, a practical shortcut to judging people. Like, on the average, people will imbibe the characteristics of others around them. Thus, someone born and brought up in a mercantile community is more likely to grow up with the knowledge and mores of a merchant. Someone who's surrounded by bookish people is more likely to respect books. And so on. Therefore, a person is likely to be assessed as being a representative member of that community even though he is vastly different.

AND, yes, there is always the company he chooses to be in. Which, perhaps, is a more reliable guide to his character. After all, you'd not choose people around you whom you dislike. Thus, the character of the people around you can be seen as a more reliable guide to your own character. IF, however, you are weak enough to not be able to free yourself from unwanted companions, whose fault would it be if you are assessed by the company you keep, even though your own mind holds different attitudes to those of your companions?

Your company becomes your identity. It behooves you to choose wisely.

The company you keep

So what else is new? You are known by the company you keep. If you surround yourself with a bunch of thieves, you'll be known for a thief. If you merge with a bunch of happy-go-lucky wastrels, you'll be known for a useless layabout. If you like to be around intellectuals, you'll be known for one. AND so on.

Tiru, though, goes one step further. In this one...

Nilaththiyalbaal neerthirin dhatraagum maandharkku inaththiyalba dhaagum arivu - Tirukkural

Just as water takes on the characteristics of the land it flows, people adopt the characteristics of their company - Loose Translation

So, according to Tiru, it is not merely that you will be ASSUMED to be like your companions; you will actually BECOME like your companions.

In small ways, you will recognise that fact yourself. You will find that your whole group use some words and phrases in common, for example. Just like, say, you use some jargon in common with your Gen, you will use jargon specific to your group. Your attitudes will also tend to align - there are groups that like studying, say, and there are those who make fun of them. Some of those attitudes may not be yours to start with but peer pressure IS a thing, no? I mean, if you are all liberals and the others are anti-abortion, can you be pro-abortion. If it is only an intellectual position and not something that you have to DO yourself, would you not flip?

Your attitudes drive your actions. You cannot BE a nerd while making fun of nerds, can you? If you are atheists, can you make a weekly visit to the temple or pray for a good result in today's interview? One after the other your words, thoughts and actions are bound to change. The longer you keep the company, the less likely you are to be different in any major way.

No, you do not all become clones. In other matters than those considered important by the group, you can be as individualistic as you please. Even in those matters of importance, the extent of your buy-in will vary. But if you do not buy in at all, you'll not be in THAT group for too long, will you?

I mean, after all, if you ARE in a echo chamber, you ARE bound to echo those in it, no?