By Tinky Ningombam
We all need motivation in our lives. Sometimes, we get it from ourselves or we get it from others. Preachers, Religious teachers, leaders constantly give speeches and teachings to motivate people to do or act in a particular way. Everyone needs a push to achieve goals and we derive that motivation from someone or something.
In this new age when life’s drudgeries bogs down the working class, there is a rise of motivational speakers, most of who works to remind people about the positives in life. They help people to focus on the optimism and to face the rat-race better.
Here, I will like to narrate one theory that many have been debating for long. The theory is about the insatiable quest of mankind. Why is man always dissatisfied? In the past few billion of years, man has always been asking the “one ultimate question” – “Why are we here?”. And precisely to answer that, he has been trying to discover things and decipher things to find the ultimate answer of Life. So man went to all corners of the world searching for it. For things that they cannot explain the existence or the origin of, they attributed to God in the heavens. When they could not find a physical heaven, they came back to the consciousness, the mind and “maya”. They went to space, they sent satellites far and wide to find the answer but years of toil could not find why we were born to float in this vacuum amongst millions of bigger stars and planets and galaxies. That is why after years, we have come back here to Mother Earth and focused our mind into making a Life- a living that focuses on mostly the non-essentials- working daily, trying to buy things with the currency we have made. To just have a life with worldly needs and material requirements because if our mind starts asking existential questions about faith or God or the universe, there are still more unsolved mysteries than answers. And between these, we find motivation with our individual definition of Life and Success. For some, it is to earn money and to be able to buy things for himself and his family and for some it is to contribute to the society or to travel around the world and see different things in their lifetime.
And when I speak of motivation, it is that feeling of Life, when you have clarity of head and heart. When life seems to have the purpose, when it seems that you have found the answer. A lot of spiritual men have oftentimes told me that they got God’s calling and have found the path. Now I cannot entirely trust that because it hasn’t yet occurred to me. But one thing I can be sure of is that “Believing” strongly in one’s convictions and goals is half of the job done. And I think that you do not need to be spiritual or Godly to be able to find your way, to find satisfaction in a Life full of wants. I think to be satisfied with life is to be happy in dearth as in abundance.
And as such, I have always been intrigued with the concept of motivational speaking. That with communication, one can boost someone’s self-esteem and confidence. That by creating enough room for self-reflection, a person can achieve the pre-assumed un-achievables. We might have got them in the guise of elderly advice from parents, teachers, employers, and friends. We have also witnessed inopportune situations when ruthless dictators have used battle speeches to brainwash the citizens with their ideology. We are all familiar with that zingoism.
I have had the good fortune to hear quote a few motivational speakers. Some like not to be called that and rather prefer the term – Life Coach. They have the most awesome task, that of making people feel good about themselves. Just recently I was in a conference where Mr. Shiv Khera spoke to us for about 40 minutes. Many know of Mr. Shiv Khera because of his best seller `You Can Win`, which has sold over 2.8 million copies in 16 languages. Apart from all other good things that he spoke about, he also spoke of just basic things and simple common-sense applications to help become a good leader. That “trust” is what people need to inculcate in others. People need to trust us in order to respect us, in order to make us become successful. Brands become unsuccessful when they lose people’s trust. And to retain that Trust, we need to have integrity and value for other people. It was a simple speech but yet it reminded us of values that were more meaningful and important than false sense of superiority or power.
It is good to hear people who motivate us every once in a while. It gives us a positive boost and makes us optimistic. Like the battle speeches that people make before people go to war. Every battle speech is designed to fuel the soldiers with passion and energy to motivate them to their goal.
But who can forget the immortal speeches from Hollywood?
WILLIAM WALLACE in BRAVE HEART – “Yes. Fight and you may die. Run and you will live, at least awhile. And dying in your bed many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that, for one chance to come back here as young men, and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but the will never take our freedom?”
MAXIMUS in GLADIATOR- “Three weeks from now, I will be harvesting my crops. Imagine where you will be and it will be so. Along the line, stay with me. If you find yourself alone, riding in green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled for you are in Allysium and you are already dead. What we do in life echoes in eternity.”
ACHILLES in TROY- “Myrmidons, my brothers of the sword. I`d rather fight alongside you than any army of thousands. Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions. You know what`s there waiting beyond that beach? Immortality! Take it. It`s yours!
LEONIDAS in 300 – “Remember this day, men, for it will be yours for all time!”
Words are perhaps the most powerful weapon of man. And if used to give direction and hope to others can change many lives for the better. We do not need just false battle cries. We need to motivate others and ourselves to create a meaningful life. The idea is to stay motivated for the right cause.
