How to be a better version of ourselves?

           

     Don’t be surprised by the title if you’re thinking I’m trying to change you into someone else. Being a better version of oneself doesn’t mean trying to look like others, but instead bringing the better part within us.  

     Therefore, it’s crucial to decide what the good and bad is within us. I   bet this is the hardest choice people have when they decide how their behaviour should be. You may be wondering how people can be mistaken when they differentiate b/n well and bad. In fact many people do. They know what’s good and bad but still choose the bad choice. This leaves us with the question “why?” All this time we have excluded external distractions. Despite the low attention we give to the term, it may be our key problem and if we understand it well, it might lead us to find the solution.

      When I mention external distraction in this article, I mean all the human influences that we had to face since we were babies. This includes our families & the life they were able to afford for our growth, our friends, our coworkers, our neighbours … almost all human influence we grew up in.

      For instance, it’s a fact that there are an increasing number of people that grew up in a different kind of upbringing compared to the typical families. These could be living with a guardian or a single parent, an orphanage, foster homes among others. These people are under immense pressure by those around them. The tight scope of view within the majority has led to discrimination and neglect to individuals with a different kind of upbringing.

       It’s not even limited to our upbringing. Our interests, our physical shape & size, our actions are all inspected by those around us. This kind of inspection is necessary at times. If we’re acting in a way, which will eventually harm ourselves or those around us, it’s crucial that this inspection continue since it’s for the well being of the society (that includes us of course).

         But the thing is that many of these parameters of inspection are themselves are broken. For example, today one person is not praised for his/her contribution to our society (firemen, doctors, cleaners …) but on how much one earns, even if they’re harming people (CEO of a transnational junk food company). In today’s word, it’s almost impossible to survive if we don’t earn money, and therefore is a requirement to fulfill our wants and needs. However, this shouldn’t be a barrier to us in holding us up from doing what we want or believe the society needs.

          Big businesses today earn their profits by exploiting people who are unhappy this way. Take this for an instance on how Cosmetics, plastic surgery, fashion industries earn profits. There is a belief among the masses that we need to consume far beyond our needs. I don’t think that it is news for you, that all of the industries mentioned and others need unhappiness to strive.

          All advertisements of such kind tend to circulate on the promise of a happy life (as long as you use their products). Young girls specifically are a particular target. It’s not without a reason. Young girls passing through adolescence start to ask questions about themselves and are an easy prey into buying a never ending chain of whatever products that have first caught their eyes.

       

                     “Personal beauty is a greater recommendation than any letter of introduction”          Aristotle   

      In today’s society the phrase seems to dominate. People across the world are engrossed into the belief that there are very few types of faces or bodies that are beautiful or worthy of being in. Therefore we try to look like the people we consider as our role models.

      Though this affects both genders of all age, young girls are still the big majority. The reason is still the same. Even in the past, women had to look at least like a standard look (which by the way changes over time). Therefore young women realize the extent of people’s expectations and try to meet them. I bet many women don’t like wearing makeup or other stuffs on their faces, but still do it because that they see it as an obligation.

       Even those who argue that they like wasting huge amounts of money on unnecessary wants is fun (which it is till it goes bad or out of fashion). I’d recommend for you to read on one of my earlier post, How to make the time for what really matters.

       So what’s the solution? This problem is tough to crack but there is no such thing as impossible. The solution is change. And this change doesn’t start by our families, our friends or even the world. The change starts with us, each and every one of us. To be a better version we need to have our goals. Write your goals if you can and make them so unique that they are solely yours & read them as often as possible. Don’t worry about others and their worries. This can only happen when we accept our true selves. Spread your ideas to those who you love most and listen to those voices which are ignored by others. You never  know, a person who is referred as crazy may have more wisdom than those who judge them. I stumbled upon this quote on the internet and may give you a momentum for your journey

                     

If you’ve any question or comment, I’ll be glad to answer them

Thanks for reading