I AM NOT WHAT HAPPENED TO ME,
I AM WHAT I CHOOSE TO BECOME.
It started with the above mentioned saying of Carl Gustav Jung. I read it on someone’s desk calendar. Like any other such saying, it touched my mind for few seconds and then it went out of my mind. Then on the last weekend, I read an article about Shakespeare in a local newspaper. There came the reference of Iago, a negative character from the famous play ‘Othello’, who at some point of time says, “I’m not what I am….”
Then there was a small get together after couple of days. I don’t remember how the topic started, but the discussion was about ‘what actually I wanted to be in my life’. Though the people were discussing it in a lighter vein, I was taken aback on the background of the two sentences mentioned above. A lot of variety was there. An engineer actually wanted to be a doctor. A CA wanted to join the Army. A banker wanted to be a Tabla player. Another lady teacher wanted to be a stage artist.
The discussion went on and on and on. Some of them could not pursue their ambitions because of the family problems, some were discouraged or restricted by their parents, some didn’t know how and where to go for pursuing something. Hundreds of reasons…
All of them were successful in what they were in. All were famous. All were wealthy. But most of them were not really enjoying. They were all what happened to them. They were not what they chose to become. Some of them have now taken up their ambitions as hobby, especially those who wanted to a Tabla player or a stage artist. But others had buried their ambitions deep. To be honest with you, I’m the ‘Chosen One’. Those who know me personally, can vouch for this statement.
What about YOU….? Happened one or Chosen one….?