How much do you invest in yourself? According to me, there are two kinds of people: those who opt for short cuts and those who insist on straight cuts. This differentiation turns awesome when we evaluate, how much one could enjoy his/her goals. Once upon a time, a bear, a wolf and a jackal thought that it would be better to join hands with a lion for hunting. They approached the lion and it too agreed. All the four went off for hunting. The hunting party came across a buffalo. The fox and the wolf chased the buffalo; the bear intercepted the buffalo and finally the lion killed it. The fox made shares out of the buffalo. When they were about to take their shares, the lion roared and said,
"Well friends, the first share is mine for my leadership. The second share is mine for, it is I who killed. The third share is also mine for I need it for my cubs. Anyone who needs a share can take the fourth. But before that you will have to win me.” All the three left the place without a single word. These three management experts could have easily chased a deer and eaten a sumptuous meal with the same effort, perhaps less than that with the lion.
This truth crossed my mind as I once again remembered the strange story of a typical bridge in Kerala. This live story is about a suspension bridge built across river Kallada in Punalur town of Kerala state in India. It was a British engineer by name Mr. Albert Henry who designed and built this in 1877. It was the only suspended–deck type bridge in South India. He completed it using rare exclusive wood panels and strong steel ropes, but he was shocked to see that people were afraid to use this. But Albert Henry was not lost. He arranged a country boat and stayed in it under the bridge with all his family, while six big elephants were marching over the bridge. It was a remarkable show of trust in himself and his design. People watched this with enormous enthusiasm. Now, though the bridge is virtually abandoned and has only archeological interest, it was widely used for many decades without any problem. He could try the tuskers only because he had enormous trust in his own self. Self-confidence is neither confidence in the self nor knowledge of the self but realising that he/she is the self. It is this awareness that makes all endeavours complete, all goals perfect. We see a lot of heroes around but not enough with necessary confidence in oneself. Everybody loves to be known by some pleasing attributes but never prepared for an acid test. Their castles might look aesthetically beautiful but not sensibly strong at foundation. We are for short cuts. I am damn sure that unless we refuse to be confident and practical, all our fictitious game plans in life would be sliced mercilessly by the same reality.
