The Power of Words
Words have a significant impact on people. Sometimes we profoundly perceive the power of words; other times, our oblivious mind fails to recognize their importance. Our family, friends, and well-wishers often try to motivate or cheer us with words during difficult times. From those hundreds and thousands of words, sometimes we randomly pick some powerful words that help us float through the ocean of depression and sadness. Similarly, an event occurred in my life a few decades ago that shaped me into the person I am today.
I was introverted and different in my teenage years. At the age of 18, I was sucked into the depths of my depression, feeling like I was of no use. When my best buddies were going to college and making new friends, I dropped out of school and started working on myself to learn new skills to secure my future. Not to mention, my family was also going through the worst survival time of my living memory. However, my demotion—the social taboo that people who sell labour belong to the lower classes of society—was preventing my buddies from maintaining the same relationship with me as before. At that time, having an affair with the person you love was treated as a crime by society. In the 90s, openly talking to elders about your feelings was not as popular as it is today. So, all this was suffocating me with sadness.
During such moments, I was lucky to meet Mr. Datta, a freshly retired high school teacher in his 70s. The power of his words changed me into the person I am today. I took shelter in his house for a few nights to attend my exams. I should mention here that, after a few years of break, I returned to school again when I realized the importance of education. However, Mr. Datta was so open and welcoming that I immediately felt like I had found someone to share my sorrow with. One evening, we went for a walk on the bank of the Narmada River, and we were having a friendly conversation about our lives. During our conversation, I became so emotional that I started shedding tears. He soon realized the depth of my sadness and stood there, placing his hand on my shoulder.
He said: “When you walk on a path, it is necessary to look back sometimes. So that you can see how great distances you have crossed, or what are the things you may have left behind. It gives you a glimpse of your overall journey, which is essential for your future. But, if you keep always looking back, you will stumble to fall again and again, and you will never be able to cross the distance you wanted to or achieve the goals you wished for.”
The power of his words touched me so deeply that I was almost lost for a while until he called me back. I thought to myself, he is so right, why am I holding onto things that I cannot change and that even have little value in my life anymore? What happened in the past is gone for good, and I can do nothing about it. But what is going to happen depends on what I am doing today. Living in the present is the key to a happy life. The simple words that he said shook me in a moment and gave me a whole new purpose to live for. From that day onward, I became so positive that I never looked back to my past. Instead, I started to dream big and of a peaceful life. Since then, I have been living a joyful life. I have achieved great things. I started from class nine again and completed my Master in Bachelor of Commerce. Additionally, I learned to play the guitar and did things that previously I wouldn’t dare to do like paddling a thousand kilometres by bicycle in a single tour, visiting some other cities, and making hundreds of friends all around the world. Now I am raising a beautiful family.
One thing that I do, and I recommend to my friends too, is if you are upset; if you have just lost something or failed in some initiative, you may enjoy the luxury of sadness for a small period, perhaps a week or month. But don’t let your depression eat you up. Enjoying sadness is essential to think about what went wrong and to convert our failures into energy if they are in our control.
The moral that I wanted to share with you is that often things happen in our life that we have no control over. But, instead of regretting it, we should stand up, learn from our mistakes, plan, and start again. Success always comes to those who never give up. Again, words have power, so listen to them carefully and spread good motivational talks to others.