Life and Achievement

Life and Achievement
The world is a beautiful place to live in. With all the oddities of human beings and all the eccentricity of pain, there are too many things to live for. Life isn’t all about ‘the bigger, the better’. As Johnson says, in small proportions, we just see beauties; and in short measures, life may be perfect. One doesn’t need to be overly intelligent, or rich, or handsome to lead a perfect life. It lies, as it were, in a sense of achievement that you derive from your life.
Now, then, an achievement may mean different things to different people depending on their frame of reference. Some seek it in fame, some in wealth and others in peace perhaps. Everyday millions are born and millions die. But who weeps for those who die? Hardly a few friends and family members. It indicates very clearly how much worthy our life is. Being a part of the crowd is the easiest thing to achieve, but then its satisfaction value is zero. And the sense of achievement is as unlikely as horns on a donkey’s head. You should lead the crowd instead of following it. You should try to be a man with a difference, a man less ordinary.
Everyone lives for himself, even the animals. But we are ways ahead of them on moral and intellectual grounds. We ought to live for others. The achievement is in giving, not in taking. If you can wipe someone’s tears, or can restore the smile of somebody, do it and never count the cost. And as the saying goes, do it in such a way that even your left hand shouldn’t know that your right hand is doing an act of charity. Moreover, maintain humility all the while, for humility is not a wasteful luxury, but a sound investment. Mark my words! This is sure, if not the shortest path towards a perfect life. And the sense of achievement will be of colossal proportions.
Now, a few words for the sceptics (it’s a shame that anyone should be sceptic on so profound a matter). Life doesn’t always look like a blessing. When the grief and melancholy take possession of you, then the moonlit summer sky looks like the murky sky of August. You may well argue that darkness is ever so horrible, but I will always disagree. There is no bliss in perfection. It leaves you to a standstill well and truly. Without the scope for betterment, there is no fun in the game. Life is a game, isn’t it? And the difference lies in the fact that how keenly, how whole-heartedly you play it. After all, the genuine players can always derive a sense of achievement out of it.