The balance

Mum says “The more knowledge one gains, the more humble they should get”. It’s a beautiful thought. I pondered on it. Here's what came about: What’s always needed is a balance. It’s amazing how the beautiful principle works itself in different ways.

Life needs to find a balance in order to keep running smoothly. And if you let that sway to either side, then there are bound to be repercussions. Let’s take a phenomenal financial expert for example. Let’s says that he always has the right investment advice and is a complete sensation at his subject. He loves his wife dearly, who generally likes to devote all her time to her household and is probably not the kind of financial wizard he could have an ‘intellectual’ discussion with. There could be times he finds something gone amiss in his relationship as he cannot come back home one fine evening and share with his wife, the positive impact his decision had on a major business plan. It’s definitely something that would affect him adversely in the long run, as he would feel that the thing that’s closest to his life is something that his life partner finds difficult to appreciate. This might be a situation one needs to look a little more deeply at. I mentioned earlier that life needs to find a balance. In the higher realm of things, everything places itself the way it does because of that same balance. If you take the example of the investment advisor: He might have a really close friend who is in a similar career and encourages and applauds him on all his successes. Or tomorrow he might have a daughter who grows up to be a financial genius and discusses and appreciates all those market insights with her dad.

And you’l see these if you look around and reflect on it a little. I have personally seen people who have lost their loved ones and find that they get that kind of love and support from other people who probably play a different role in your life. A girl who loses her father might find a guide in a friend or life-partner who is a father-figure. A woman who lost her dear sister finds that she shares that intimate bonding with a friend now.

I heard a friend saying, that if an IIT pass out woman wants to choose a life partner, she needs to find a man who is at least an IIT graduate or a student of some college ranked higher than that. And the reason she felt that way was because the men end up having ego issues with a woman who is intellectually superior to them. I understand and admire the IIT’ians for the way they are a class apart and also agree that they are intellectually sound and extremely hardworking people. To the women, - do you really want to make that decision behind a brand name that is attached to you. If you brought in modesty and humbleness along with the peaks of your career achievements, there is every way that you can have a harmonious and fulfilling relationship with your husband. To the men, I know that there are those fragile egos and other people’s words that can fire you up. But do you want your self-respect to be affected by anyone else. If you are self-assured and contented, nothing will really touch you.

If you are the most intelligent thinker, or the most proficient person, there’s every effort you should make to be the most self-effacing person as well. Knowledge is power and that knowledge includes this awareness and letting go of the ego, the “I”, too. If you can be the best at the job you have taken up, why not be the best at being humblest as well. True awareness comes from striking that ‘balance’.

There are people who let themselves be affected by the society’s definition of successful, rich, intelligent and talented in that they feel they cannot have beautiful interactions with certain people because they either do not share the same wave length with them or they do not have common interests. It helps to understand that every person who comes your way is there because you and he/she are to share some messages between each other and whether you find someone who complements your thoughts or is a negation to all your convictions, there will something you will take back from them anyway. So bless everything that comes your way and trust the process of life and the universe to bring you everything that’s best for you.