Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I Speaking Tree Website, TOI I September 12, 2014
Not facility, not ease, but difficulty and effort make a man, wrote Scottish author and reformer Samuel Smiles. This statement is based on a natural fact and examples in history have proved its veracity. All those individuals who attained greatness, regardless of which walk of life they came from, were the products of difficulty and not of facility. They faced challenges and emerged as superachievers.
But the question is: why does difficulty have a greater role to play in the building of a personality than facility? The reason is traceable to one of the laws of nature. The fact is that all of our actions, big or small, are directly related to our minds. It is the mind that directs all activities of our personality. The human mind is greater than all great things of the universe: It is the mind that is master of your personality, as it controls all of your activities. Studies show that all our performances depend totally on our minds. The mind has unlimited reserves of energy. When we decide to do anything, the mind at once releases energy and we perform with the aid of this energy.
The mind is the prime source of energy and whatever we do can only be done with the help of this energy. If we choose to do an easy task, then the mind will release a lesser amount of energy. And, if we decide to do some difficult or great task, then the mind will release a greater amount of energy.
The building of a personality depends on your own efforts. If you are an easygoing person then you are bound to receive less energy from your mind and the result will be that your personality will become weak. If you are ambitious and choose to embark on a great task, then certainly your mind will release a greater amount of energy, the result of which will be that you will develop a strong personality.
Everyone is born with the same mind that is full of energy. But some people fail to utilise this energy and die without developing their personalities fully. The other kind of people are those who set a great task as their goal. Thus, their minds release a greater amount of energy for the performance of this task, and so they become super achievers.
Man himself is the master of his destiny. This saying is true, but not in a mysterious sense. It all depends on how much a person has unfolded his mind and how much energy the mind has released. One achieves greater or smaller successes in life depending on how much energy one’s mind releases. Every individual is self-made. But the quantum of success depends on one’s own planning. Wise planning makes one a superman or superwoman, while unwise planning makes one lag behind in life.
The mind of an individual is like a great water reservoir. Opening the gate of this reservoir depends on one’s target. If one’s target is an ordinary target then the mind will open the door of energy on a smaller scale. But, if the target is a big one, the mind will open the gate of energy on a larger scale. It is this difference that decides the level of one’s achievement.
Never complain to others. Try to utilise your own mind, and you will certainly achieve anything you want to in life.