To her fair works did Nature link The human soul that through me ran; And much it grieved my heart to think What man has made of man.
Through primrose tufts, in that green bower, The periwinkle trailed its wreaths; And ’tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.
- Lines Written in Early Spring
by William Wordsworth
‘Innate nature’, ‘inner urge’, ‘predominant liking’, ‘passion’ are words we loosely term as talent. It is an activity that is closer to one’s heart or actions that one loves to do naturally.
Every human being is made up of inherent tendencies and inclinations, distinct likes and dislikes. Identifying the same and choosing a field according to one’s nature brings happiness and satisfaction to the individual. It becomes important for parents to identify their child’s inner tendencies and cater to the same from an early age.
Generally, parents tend to decide a child’s future based on how lucrative a field is. Little do they realize that their child may not actually have a liking towards the same! When they do this, they are forcing the child to go against his inner tendencies.
Anything forced is never forceful. This leads to unhappiness and stress in the long run. Such a person cannot be happy and productive. Therefore, for the personal satisfaction of an individual and their well- being it is important to choose an activity compliant with one’s inner nature. It is the responsibility of the parents and teachers to identify the negative tendencies and give the child proper guidance.
One can identify one’s innate tendencies only through its expression. The innate nature of a person gets expressed as thoughts – in the intellect; likes, dislikes, feelings, emotions, desires – in the mind and physical actions through the body. Exceptional talent, in the case of child prodigies, is noticed at an early age. The natural tendencies or inclinations of a person will not be sporadic but will be a continuous expression. In the case of children who have strong inclinations in two or three fields, balance their interests’.
When a conducive environment is provided for the expression of an inner nature, it comes to surface. For eg: a seed grows into a sapling and then a fruit yielding tree only in conducive soil. Otherwise it remains a seed for a period. So the best that parents and teachers can do is to provide the right environment for a child and locate their innate nature. The freedom thus given can help the child to be creative and productive.
Children choosing a field of activity according to their interest will have a positive impact on the world around them. Group of nations make the world! Group of states make a nation! Group of communities make a state! Group of families make a community! Group of individuals make a family!
If we expect any change at the level of the nation, then the focus should be on the individual. The individual’s happiness and peace depend on choosing the right vocation. Thus, when a child gets the freedom to choose his/her predominant field of interest, he grows up to be a satisfied, productive and a complete individual. The family looks up to such a person. The community, state, nation and the world follow suit!!!
When a person chooses a field that is alien to his nature, though giving him immediate gains, will keep him unhappy in the long run. This hinders productivity. Here one should be careful not to be led by herd instinct or material attractiveness of a field.
Education as we speak of it today, only gives us information in one or more subjects. This makes us intelligent in those subjects. The need of the hour is the development of the faculty called intellect that helps us to think, reason, discriminate, judge, decide and apply in the world.
Just as a disease is cured by treating the root infection and not the symptom, we need to understand the root cause of a problem. What we see around us are symptoms or effects. The problem of no interest in studies, bullying, teenage suicides, depression, stress etc. can be addressed in two ways.
Short Term Remedy:
Reduce the effect to some extent as it cannot be negated completely. Locate the need of the child and give them the freedom with guidance to find immediate relief.
Long Term Solution:
Sow fresh causes in order to ensure better effects in the future. How do you do this?
The responsibility of learning and applying the fundamental values of life falls on every individual, eventually embracing the world! What are these values?
Action – all thoughts, deeds and words channelized towards achieving a set goal beyond one’s selfish interest, is action. This goal that individual’s set should be for the welfare of people irrespective of caste, creed, community, religion etc.
Direction – such focused action towards the goal gives direction in life. Water flowing in one direction, and wind blowing in one direction, generate power. Similarly, our actions gain power and dynamism when directed towards a higher goal.
Objectivity – actions emanate either from mind or intellect or a combination of both. An action propelled by mere emotion without intellect’s guidance is impulsive. While an action arising out of reason and judgment, even as emotion supports it, is said to be objective. Objectivity, therefore, is determined by one’s intellectual supervision over the mind’s likes and dislikes.
This objectivity is enhanced by practicing humane values like no hatred, humility, forgiveness, compassion, uprightness, steadfastness, gratitude etc. By gaining knowledge of these values and consistent application of this knowledge, one sets examples for others to follow.
In view of the current situation of the Corona Virus Pandemic, there is a point we need to consider.
“Life is what happens to you,
when you are busy making other plans.”
- John Lennon
Life has two aspects, process and result. All of us are usually focused on the result rather than the process. Its time we focus on the process, focus on the fundamental values of life so that the result is automatically taken care of. Whatever crisis we are facing today let us take corrective measures and let us also focus on sowing better seeds for a better future.
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