Am I unfair to myself?

Am I unfair to myself?

Every human being is endowed with an innate thirst for justice and equality. Some do exercise this faculty to its maximum whereas a few do not really care for it, by just being apologetic about their inabilities. However, the irony of human life lays in the fact that very often people choose to protect the dignity of the other while being unfair to oneself. Nobody wants to be hurt, for it brings in both physical and mental pain. We are prone to be attacked from all the possible sides both through words and deeds. Amidst these types of attacks, specially daylight attempts for character assassinations, can we stand erect defending the selves. The most unfortunate thing that can happened to a lukewarm self is to succumb to the external forces’ attempt to murder the self. And this leads to a self-sacrifice, moreover these types of infiltrated souls lose their purity by letting them to be broken into unjustly. People tend to forget the fact that the purity of our self is one of the valuable credentials we proudly own.

I often hear people say that ‘they feel themselves violated’ due to the verbal attack or character assassination they face in their peer groups, friends’ circles, academic circles, and the list is endless. There is an African proverb which says, ‘Do not bleed when the sharks bite you’. This proverb might sound absurd and meaningless. When I heard it for the first time, I too did feel the same. As the days fell by, and the number of questions thrown at me were often left unanswered, or let me place it this way, I never inclined to lift a finger to solve it then and there. For, I knew for sure that the very attempt to solve these types of self-related questions can misfire at times. Today, when I look back at some of the unsolved questions posed before me, the African proverb which I already mentioned above makes sense to me. It can be a devastating experience of one’s self/ self- respect being ripped apart before the people. Such shattering experience can totally damage the identity of the victim of such attacks.

However, such a situation of rejections and uncharitable criticisms are bound to come uninvited. At the end of the day one may be able to win over them with ease provided he/ she decides to do so. The best way is to ‘refuse to bleed when sharks bite’, i.e., do not give in to despair and disappointment which may in turn bleed you profusely. What sharks want is the blood in the water and if you don’t give them that satisfaction, they might eventually stop biting you, for they find it futile to bit further. And the more you bleed the greater number of sharks are attracted. This ironically calls for forming a thick skin against the sharp teeth of the sharks. Ultimately deny the unfair attackers the satisfaction of savoring your own discomfort, unhappiness, complexes, inabilities etc. If one can achieve this ‘grace under pressure’, that would mark the beginning of the fight against these sharp teethed hungry whales. If you and me refuse to form a thick skin so as not to be ripped apart by the whales, we are being unfair to ourselves. No matter how loud is our cry, no hands may be extended to you for aid. So, have that courage to thicken your skin to be able to withstand the sharp teeth of the sharks.