Prove it

My apologies, people, for not having visited your blogs and not writing here as well for this long. I was away at my grandparents' place and lived without the internet for 10 days. Yes, I do sound like a complete addict, but I believe that it was an achievement. Anyway, without further ado, here's a post, and I promise juicier posts lined up for this weekend or a little later:

We all have our personal bars and standards. We live by them, and go to incredible lengths to see to it that they aren't violated. Some of it is a personal preference. Some of it --- we just want to test the limits. We test not just us, but everyone around us. To be accepted at a position of authority in our lives, we need these people to pass these watermarks. Those who exceed these become our heroes, and those who do not: they can never make it to a position of reverence.

I remember the time when I went to this neighbour who claimed he could help me with my maths problems. I had produced 3 problems as 'difficult' problems... claiming that I couldn't solve them. In reality, one of them was a tricky one: it had been solved in class and I knew that it was difficult. This neighbourhood 'uncle' got stumped at this one... and although he could solve one of the other two problems, he never really reached that position of reverence for me --- he remained just the "neighbourhood uncle" who can do some math.

We all do this, don't we, in some form or the other? And the desire to prove oneself also rouses us from slumber when the object of special attention is near. I knew this boy in our colony who used to bowl ferociously when his girlfriend passed beside the cricket ground --- and you could actually see him fume if you hit him to the ropes at those times.

Somehow we tend to seek approval of our own beliefs when we present these challenges to others. All those little romantic games of playing hard-to-get, maybe taunting the guy to do something that you know he wouldn't normally do: it is all a part of the judgement process. Perhaps nature designed us this way: if we have something to give, we want to know for sure that we're investing in the right lot. And if we have something to get, nature ensures that we fight for it to earn it. Don't you remember the twinkle at the corner of the eye of the girl when her classroom crush answers a question correctly which no-one else can get right? Do you miss the coach's grin when his best player is praised by all after the soccer match?

The lesson to take home is that we must be prepared for the challenge. Some like me love challenges --- I like fighting it out: to dive for that ball even on asphalt, or to prove the teacher wrong by scoring a 10/10 on a test (although I suspect he used to do it on purpose). Some others among us are the challenge themselves. Every single time you want to lead, you must do it from the front. You have to prove your credentials: pedigree doesn't count for much on the actual battlefield --- the true hero's character will show through any day. Prove it to your team that you can lead, and that when the time comes you can call a spade a spade. Prove it to yourself, that you practice what you preach. As they say, one ounce of practice is worth twenty tons of big talk.