Monday, July 26, 2010

Stone walls .....

During the course of a conversation with a colleague, the meaning assigned by us to ‘winning’, ‘achievement’, and ‘satisfaction’ was discussed. Various questions and answers were hotly debated.

A few significant points, though, surfaced. One of them was that the process was more satisfying than the end result. The other was the ‘being’ was more important than the ‘becoming.’ Shift in the ‘being’ was thought to bring in immense satisfaction, immaterial of the fact whether the individual won or lost.

What stayed in our minds, however, was there were times when we had ‘easy victories’ and sometimes ‘hard victories. The easy ones brought no satisfaction whereas those fought hard indeed did. It was also a fact that many a time we did lose after a hard fought battle, but the efforts still seemed to be worthwhile and there was immense satisfaction. So it was always not about ‘winning’, but about how much of our potential was tested. Thus if a situation presented challenges and drew out the best in us, we seemed to be on top of the world.

Finally, we thought it was not about winning or losing, but all about unleashing our best and competing against odds and also ourselves. As Randy Pausch said ‘Stone walls are there for a reason ….

15 comments:

Sylvia K said...

There is a similar thought here in the states that says, 'it matters not whether your win or lose, but how you played the game'. I think that is quite true. Good to see your post, Subba! Have a great week!

Sylvia

me ra said...

Thanks for commenting on my scribblings.

Very true, Success is the courage to take the journey, you believe in....reminded me of the book, Joureny is the reward...

Sucharita Sarkar said...

I understand perfectly. Persuading recalcitrant babies to do something offers a greater challenge than stone walls.

Pearl said...

I would have loved to have been part of this conversation., as I do believe that the journey is sometimes the best part of the arrival.

Pearl

Debra Lynn Shelton said...

"It's not the destination, it's the journey." Thanks for the reminder.

nsiyer said...

Thanks Sylvia, its all about how philomaniathe game is played

nsiyer said...

Me ra, all of us when living life forget the journey and do not see it as a flow.

I acknowledge, Sucharita.

nsiyer said...

Pearl, its about the journey and the joy that exists.

Debrah, Thanks a million.

Brian Miller said...

great post...for me it is about the journey...and those that are hard fought the better...says something for setting lofty goals...

great to see you today!

Urmi said...

Visiting your blog after a long time and its really nice to read your wonderful post. It is very important in our life to struggle hard to achieve goal and it takes a long journey.

RGB said...

Agree, totally. I tell my daughter (when she's disappointed that she didn't win a prize), that it's not 'winning' but 'participating and giving it your best' that truly matters!

Sridhar said...

Very nice post Apt for the young ones, when we get so many shows testing the capability for their singing or dancing and paying the winner hefty prizes. Your friend Hari is also doing a show in Tamil, and tries to find a good singer who can sing with him.(That is the prize,)

Very Very Nice one Iyer.

Samyukta Ganesh said...

So true..in that pursuit for success, the journey is almost forgotten sometimes...so then whether or not you win becomes immaterial as you have given it all you had and fought the battle in the right spirit. Thanks Sir, for such a thought provoking write-up!

Varsha said...

well said!

Vijiskitchencreations said...

My first visit.Really nice to read your great post.