By: Lindokuhle Mnisi
@Lindo_Mnisi
What happens
when the people around you succeed in life? When your peers achieve something
that you haven’t achieved and when they acquire things you wish to acquire?
What happens when your close friends get paying jobs, buy cars and start living
a lavish lifestyle? What happens when they build or buy beautiful houses for
themselves and their families? How does seeing your neighbour achieve so much
makes you feel? What happens when your little brother or sister starts a
successful business and move forth in life while you are still hustling and
struggling?
What should that
do to you? How should you respond to all that? Should it hurt you? Should it
break you apart and make you feel stupid, useless and helpless? Should somebody
else’s achievements depress you? Is this the time when you start seeing how
people are so “full of themselves” and how “they think they are better than
others”? When people get successful in life, is it the right moment to start
noticing how they hate you and how “they hate helping other people”? Is this
the time when you develop jealousy in your heart? Or is this the time when you
get encouraged and challenged to work harder than you were already doing?
Seeing other
people succeed in life is naturally painful. Yes it. It puts a lot of pressure
on every individual. It has the potential to create anger within ourselves.
Seeing some people succeed in life gives us stress. But it differs from one
person to another on what kind of stress does it cause. Is it a negative stress
(distress) or a positive stress (eustress)? It also differs from person to
person on how they deal with the stress.
Some people
break down, cry and suffer depression. Some see a need to stand up for their
lives and do more. Some people get anxious and give up on everything they were
doing and start thinking they are not meant to succeed. While some people take
it as a challenge to stay on track in pursuit of their goals, dreams, success
and happiness.
Problems begin when you start "noticing' how somebody thinks "the is too big for his own shoes since he bought a car". Trouble starts when you begin to say "after getting that job, he now thinks he is better than all of us" and "Since he started appearing on TV and talking on Radio, he thinks he is the man."
Clapping hands for somebody forever can
be frustrating. But if you take motivation from how they do things, you have
the potential to make many people clap hands for you.
Seeing somebody succeed in life should
motivate you. It should stimulate you and give you strength. It should get you
thinking hard about what are you doing wrong that they are doing right. It
should challenge you to introspect and evaluate yourself to find solutions for
your own problems. Somebody’s success should keep you on your toes. It should
sharpen your concentration and make you pay attention to little details that
you usually take for granted. It should drive you to where you want to be or to
where you want to get. Seeing somebody succeed should encourage and challenge
you to think about what is possible for you. However, somebody’s success should
never put unnecessary pressure on you.
Seeing somebody move forth in life has the power to put us under so much stress. How we choose to deal with the pressure we incur is fundamental to our way forward. Hence if seeing somebody succeeds in life hurts you, you might start being negative about and towards people who succeed. Somebody's achievements should motivate you to work hard.
I believe everybody is destined for greatness. Every one of us has the potential to succeed in life. The pace of your success may not be the same as that of your friend or colleague, but everything has its own time. When your friend's time arrives, it doesn't mean because you share the same age, it should automatically be yourself. Your day will come. Maybe not today, tomorrow or next month but your day will come. But, one great speaker said "if you give up now, no day in the future is going to be your day."
Seeing somebody move forth in life has the power to put us under so much stress. How we choose to deal with the pressure we incur is fundamental to our way forward. Hence if seeing somebody succeeds in life hurts you, you might start being negative about and towards people who succeed. Somebody's achievements should motivate you to work hard.
I believe everybody is destined for greatness. Every one of us has the potential to succeed in life. The pace of your success may not be the same as that of your friend or colleague, but everything has its own time. When your friend's time arrives, it doesn't mean because you share the same age, it should automatically be yourself. Your day will come. Maybe not today, tomorrow or next month but your day will come. But, one great speaker said "if you give up now, no day in the future is going to be your day."
So does
somebody’s achievements hurt you or encourage you?