Bumpers in a bowling alley help in telling us a lot about our playing skills. They protect and they also tell us the direction in which the throw must go to prevent any failure moments. Life too has its bumpers. They are just as vital for students and those who wish to achieve anything.
The best bumpers we can have are our brains, our desires, our dreams, our goals, our education, our families and friends (only the nice positive ones), our teachers, our spiritual advisors, our mentors and our coaches. We’ll still get off course but hopefully our “life bumpers” will align us properly and direct us on the right path. It is not as easy as bowling with bumpers but it is a lot more rewarding and satisfying.
Bumpers do give us a feeling of goodness all over. Everyone needs to ‘feel good’! The message is clear… the one who roams around without direction, one who never seeks the guidance of mentors can adopt a direction that may not be the one he actually wishes to take. Bumpers do knock you around and there may be punches that may seem unfair. The truth is vastly different. Mentors, like the bumpers that we have been talking about, make you adopt a path that focuses on reaching the goal.
The students too must respond positively to all this bumping and knocking about. If you get knocked down, get to your feet. If you get knocked flat to the floor first get to your knees then stand up again. It might take awhile but just keep trying. Strengthen the coping mechanism and you will handle the bumps well and be off on your desired direction to achieve all that you have been dreaming about. To be an achiever is really as simple as that!
Just imagine a life with bumpers to surround us if we get off course or an apparatus to line our life up just right so we keep going in the chosen direction. Yes, we will surely have to work at it so we don’t fail, we will also get a little dirty, but in the end we will learn about our selves. Once this stage is achieved, life will be great.
Every day, students who are winning at examinations focus on new ideas that give their focus a sharper direction. The important and vital point here is that they do not shy away from any aid that may lead them on to success, despite the bumps associated!
The better definition of success is not having any fear of being knocked about when the aim is to make them reach the desired destination. However, success is not about the knocks. It’s all about an outward measure someone else establishes. And this someone else is the right mentor. Success is a by-product of the mentor’s passionate endeavors, hard work, ongoing efforts and involvement that combines seamlessly with the same qualities in a student or an aspirant!
Thus for students or aspirants who are winning at examinations, success is an inner measure of passionately doing what they are able to do, making a difference with their lives and maximizing their gifts and talents. They measure success by leaving the world a bit better for having been here. All this, let me say again, is directly dependent on the quality of mentoring and guidance that is offered.
Aspirants must be with the reassuring presence of their mentors, absorbing their ‘living wisdom’. These mentors don’t just believe their philosophy; they live it. They don’t simply think the world is a certain way; they confirm it with personal direct evidence every day of their existence.
Choose well and fear not the bumpers of life… success will be yours in time!
[Arvind Passey]
[2007]
Written for PT Education
