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The
joy of achievement THE Latin motto of the Olympic games is: Altius, Citius, Fortius i.e. higher, faster, stronger. It is a clarion call to break through the limitations of what the human body can accomplish. For example, throwing things is a seemingly trivial matter. Even small babies are good at throwing toys, but how far a person can throw an object of a certain weight becomes a matter of achievement. The Greeks invented the discus, and the great discus throwers were immortalised by their sculptors. The Swiss gathered on holidays on mountain meadows to see who could toss the trunk of a tree farthest? The Scots did the same with gigantic rocks. In baseball speed and precision becomes important whereas in basket ball throwing the ball through the basket requires great skill. Soaring higher in high-jump, polevault etc, against the pull of gravity becomes an art and achievement. Valerie Brummel goes on raising the height in pole-vault, and he goes on breaking his own records. The myth of Icarus, who had wings fashioned to reach the Sun, has long been held to be a noble and misguided parable. Stretching the human body beyond the endurance limit, brings thrill, excitement and rewards. |
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| In one of the studies carried out at the
University of Chicago, the researchers called it ESM
(Experience Sampling Method). The attempt was to measure
the quality of experience. Selected people were given
electronic pagers, beepers and a booklet with response
sheets. A programmed radio-transmitter sent signals about
8 times a day at random intervals for a week. Every time
the pager signalled, the respondents filled a page of the
booklet indicating their state of mind ranging from
‘very happy’ to ‘very sad’. The
finding showed that people involved in expensive leisure
were less happy than those who were involved in
inexpensive leisure. For example, people talking to each
other about gardening, knitting, birdwatching were more
happy than those operating an expensive computer,
television or stereo system. Networking with other people
gives an understanding putting them in proper
perspective. Since we are already engineered for success
by our in-built personal computer, we need only learn to
push the right buttons. To rise higher, move faster and
become stronger, the mind has to be put to maximum
constructive use. One way to rise higher, move faster and become stronger is to deliver the best service to others. When we do this we become more and more capable of striving each time to excel beyond our past efforts and performances. It is only through better service we can gain mastery in our chosen field of endeavour, surpass all previous records and let it become a habit. Knowledge becomes a dynamo that generates power. All big things are started by one person, one believer. This one person is the prime mover, the spark plug, the central fountain. This one person is the thermal station generating power. He sets up a magnetic current in others. Imagine a reservoir which is always full. Streams continually flow into the reservoir from mountains and hidden natural springs. Man is motivated by different reasons, such as necessity, fascination, personal gain, pleasing others, solving problems or actualising values. Man may not fly high physically like a bird but he can certainly fly high emotionally. Perhaps, that takes him to a higher level of performance in life. Many of our days are not peak experiences. Sometimes there are plateaus with nothing exciting going on. It could be even pits when things go wrong. After a bad news we are in the dumps, but when good news comes again, we get a good night’s sleep and we bounce back for another day, full of enthusiasm and optimism. One of the big challenges is enjoying life one day at a time. Several days put together make a week, month, year and the whole life. Rising higher in life need not be continuous: it could be scattered but adding all the occasions together should make an impressive list. If we have a longer list of happiness than unhappiness, life becomes fulfilled. In fact happiness has three sources: Involvement in positive experiences of pleasure; involvement in activities that interest us; and doing things in which we are competent. Living for something greater than ourselves, and knowing that we are doing something that is making a difference is an ingredient of happiness. Feeling happy is like standing on a high mountain peak unencumbered by mundane activities below. Feeling unhappy is like being in a chasm without a ray of hope or a way to get out. On a plateau we look around and wonder what to do and where to go next. It is also difficult to remain at the peak because it is lonely and the scenario behind becomes dull and monotonous. Also others try to pull us back to get a view from the top. But the effort should be to climb higher, move faster and get stronger so that the never-ending climb of life continues and we don’t get tired in the process! |
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