ATTITUDE

ATTITUDE

We are all born into circumstances that are not of our choosing. The family into which we are born, the economic and social status that comes with it, the beliefs and practices of the society around us, the opportunities available to us—and sometimes even the circumstances associated with the sex of the child—begin shaping our lives long before we are capable of shaping them ourselves.

Some are born with a silver spoon in their mouth. What another person may have to spend an entire lifetime struggling to achieve may come to someone else simply by virtue of being born into a privileged family.

That is the inequality of birth. Perhaps that is what we call destiny.

No comment on that.

But birth may decide the starting point; it need not decide the destination.

What ultimately makes the difference is the attitude with which a person faces the circumstances around him, and the effort that follows that attitude. The hurdles created by circumstances may restrict a person, but they may also become the very reason for his rise. What appears to be a disqualification at one point in life can, with the right attitude and sustained effort, become a prop for excellence.

History and everyday life are full of such examples. They need not be mentioned here.

So, in the final analysis, perhaps it is not the situation around us but our attitude towards that situation that matters most.

I was told sometime in the past that if the letters of the word ‘ATTITUDE’ are assigned their numerical values—A=1, B=2, C=3 and so on—the total comes to exactly 100.

I do not claim this idea to be mine. But the thought behind it is difficult to ignore.

Words like SUCCESS, HARD WORK and many other positive expressions may inspire us. Yet none, in this simple numerical sense, reaches the completeness of 100.

Perhaps that is why the little formula stays with us:

ATTITUDE = 100

And perhaps, after all, that is not merely a play with numbers.

It is a reminder that we may not always choose what life gives us, but we do have a say in how we receive it, respond to it and rise from it.

R.R.P.