Came across a great quote from one my random reading adventures:
“A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life. And he adapts his mind to that regulating factor, he ceases to accuse others as the cause of his condition, and builds himself up in strong and noble thoughts; ceases to kick against circumstances, but begins to use them as aids to his more rapid progress, and as a means of the hidden powers and possibilities within himself.”
James Allen, As a Man Thinketh
Makes me want to read more from this author now. It sounds a little too philosophical from my average selection, but I have had enough of serious biographies for the past few months.
Often times, I have observed how people are quick to point at others the moment shit hits the fan. I am guilty of this too. But shit don’t get wiped off from the fan no matter how hard you point at others. In the workplace, it’s very easy to witness such episodes.
I somehow believe that condemning failures is the main reason why finger-pointing becomes the most practiced exercise in the cubicles. We have been trained since young that failures is something to be shunned at all cost. We must not allow failures and all that training we get about the 101 ways to avoid making mistakes. And deep down in our subconscious, we fear failures almost as much as death itself. Worse yet, some even start to make up stories (read: lie) to cover up for their mistakes, which is a lot more effort than owning up to it. These make-believes don’t exactly help us to become a better person. hey just make us better liar.
That’s also not to say that we should blame ourselves for everything that went wrong. People get depressions because of this. It’s important to know accept the fact that we cannot resolve all the challenges around us. The idea here is to at least stop passing the buck around, take control of the situation and act on it. Even if we fail, it will be very likely we will put ourselves in a better position than before we started. So while we cannot get a perfect ten in every life’s challenges (which is impossible in my opinion), at least we are above the average because we keep working at it.
Like one of my school teacher used to say (I can’t give him credit because I couldn’t remember which teacher actually said it), “While you have one finger pointing at others, you have another four pointing back at yourself”.