Where to bestow your attention-gains back the power you have on yourself

It never feels nice dancing to the tune of others!! But you can follow.

Long back when I was a school going girl, I lived with my parents in a modest housing society in a 2 roomed apartment. We were happy there and our expenses were met considerably but the gentry in that society was varied. There were all kinds of people staying and coming from very many places of India.

There was this uncle who called me home to talk to me. He had a son and 2 daughters and a loving wife. The uncle kept asking me questions and I kept inspiring him with my words of wisdom. The consequence was, I was taken. The two daughters started to imitate me completely, every evening when I went for a walk they followed, the way I walk, talk, wear was sabotaged, they both simply were annoying. The mother began imitating my mother, again what my mother wears, talks and how she walks. We were sabotaged. If nothing they just kept watching faces intently to imitate while we played collectively with other children.

The saintly interpretation to this comic anecdote is that they were inspired so they wanted to measure against a benchmark. But this benchmark was due to their values, their subjective analysis. Me and my family may not be ideal, but to them we were. Nothing to boast about but may be something to stay smug that indeed we were those exceptions whom people wanted to follow. Laughably we were the benchmark, more than the Gods in scriptures? People do not follow scriptures but humans. We had huge fanfare back then!! (exaggeration)

What I thought then instead of the saintly interpretation: I’ll shove these copy cats away. Why should I be copied? I want to be free. There were loads of inspiration, and so many famous personalities. To get that famous, I need to work hard especially academically (my kind of success) and then may be people can follow. A 10th grade person being followed by an entire family was irksome, I wasn’t prepared to groom them. What the hell are these grooming classes doing? Put your girls there not after me. Do I really mean a lot to them? It is highly unlikely.

Today somehow I feel like loving them. The two girls must be having a successful family life. And decent work. I hope people copy them or get inspired by them. What more do they want? So, God bless them. This is the power that empowers me after facing a lot of tragedies. This is the difference. My father and mother taught me this. This is their vision, to have a good outlook even if it means to find beauty in jealousies, selfishness, lying and so on. If I pay attention to their annoying imitations, I shall feel confiscated. But if I talk to them, tell them to become self-sufficient and suit their circumstances and not mine, I gain power, they also get empowered, finally life moves on.

To empower ourselves, we need positive thoughts and positive environment. Even if the stepping stone has been touched, the journey is long. Give attention to improving yourselves day by day. Read books, write, explain, teach, rear your children, plants. Everyday travel through different time-slots with more confidence and productivity. Today start to follow yourself. Know your needs and desires. Pay attention to all the human and non human obstacles and then let it go. As one of my colleagues suggested, let him do what he wants (about another colleague) unless there will be a time they hurt you, then take action. It’s a great advise. So these days I am paying attention to my work more than how people treat me or play politics against me. That is the part of the game. No workplace is devoid of this and I am not a saint. So the power lies within all human beings, to reap the results of empowerment, we need to pay attention to the right things, to acceptance, to personal improvements, to learn, to invest time and of course in good things.