Monday 10 March 2008

Yes I Can!

If you think you are beaten, you are
if you think you dare not, you don't
If you like to win, but think you can't
it's almost a cinch you won't

If you think you'll lose, you're lost
for out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow's will
it's all in the state of mind

If you think you're outclassed, you are
you've got to think high to rise
you've got to be sure of yourself before
you can win the prize

Life's battles don't always go
to the stronger or faster man;
but sooner or later the man who wins
is the man who thinks he can

~Anonymous

Negative thinking never lets us discover our powers. Powers that God has given to each and every one of us regardless of our race, religion, creed, gender and any socioeconomic status. I come across so many people who have such a low self image that one wonders how do they survive. You ask them to do anything and they will say, No. I don't think I am good enough to do it. Or, I don't think it's possible. I always tell them nothing is possible unless they first believe in it.

~Faiez H. Seyal
The Road to Success

5 comments:

Isbah Omer said...

Its a wonderful thought, but i believe that every perception, thought or idea should be practiced with mediocrity. I like to think that there are things that i can do, and there are things that i cant. For what i cant do, i have the right to try and hope for the best.

Now why am i putting a lot of negativity in the air of optimism? Take Musharraf for example. He thinks that he can, he wants it and he has believed that it is his, and look where it got us as a nation...

I think that disbelief exists for a reason. It gives you an opportunity to define yourself more, it makes you understand your limitations and strengths as a person and work on them accordingly. There are million of things in your To do list, but you can only try a few in your lifetime.

Sometimes, it is good to realize that you're beaten. It gives you a reason to turn around from attempting to try something that could hurt you more if you had it. Sometimes i think that your fears have more contribution in your achievements than your confidence.

You dont have to settle for being ordinary. You just have to realize that not being able to do a certain thing doesnt effect your ability to master another. I believe that it can be constructive to question our beliefs, and then learning to handle our fears the way we handle success, pleasure or any other emotion; instead of making your I can, I will philosophy a curse for you and every one else around you. Sorry, I just heard that Zardari might run for PM, I need a reason to believe that he will chicken out and life will be good again. :(

Syra said...

JazakAllah khayr for your thoughts Isbah. (Y). Constructive negativity is actually a positive thing.

Its wise to know your limitations buts it extremely unwise to dis-empower one self. At the same time its unwise to over power one self too.

bilal said...

certain events/experiences can lead one to develop negative thinking/low self-pride...

but the object of the game is to keep coming back!

it's good to have sincere friends around you, that can put you back on track.

Anonymous said...

" The master said: "When we sense that the time has come for a change, we begin -- unconsciously -- to run the tape again, to view every defeat we have experienced until then. "And, of course, as we grow older, our number of difficult moments grows larger. But, at the same time, experience provides us with better means of overcoming those defeats, and of finding the path that allows us to go forward. We have to play that second tape on our mental VCR, too. "If we only watch the tape of our defeats, we become paralyzed. If we only watch the tape of our successes, we wind up thinking we are wiser than we really are. "We need both of those tapes." "

From maktub, By Paulo Coelho

khany said...

mrs. mufti, a dear pakistan studies teacher from a-level days at beaconhouse margalla, used to tell the boys, "don't overpower yourself or you will be badly mistaken". we would roll over with laughter because her expressions were always so unique.

in my experience a person belongs to either of these extreme mindsets, rarely both. a person who has failure on his mind is rarely at risk of overpowering himself because he never challenges himself to do something that is out of his comfort zone. similarly the person who thinks too highly of their abilities could only benefit himself by learning some humility. of course, there are people who are neither of these extremes and they have a balanced mindset. i think it is this balance that Ishbaz is advocating in her comment.

trying to perform to the best or even beyond your abilities is a praiseworthy quality. in fact, we extol it as sacrifice whenever a person works harder for a worthy cause than is expected of them. i think this desirable quality becomes a menace when we lose sight of the reason for our efforts. for example, when our reasons for exerting ourselves become purely selfish we fail to see that somebody else is more qualified and more deserving to get the job done. it only counts as sacrifice when the reasons are bigger than our own immediate desires.