WHAT DEFINES YOU?

A 21 year old boy studying chemical engineering from IIT committed a suicide. A 10 year old girl in another part of the world locked herself up in her room for 3 days because she thought she wasn’t beautiful enough to go out..

And then there is Lizzie Velasquez, labeled by cyber-bullying website as ‘the ugliest girl alive’. Yes, there are actually such titles doing the rounds too!! She suffers from a rare congenital disorder called the neonatal progeroid syndrome, thanks to which she weighs just 29 kg at age 26, can’t see with one eye and looks ‘ugly’, terribly ‘ugly’!! In one of her instances she recounts, “There were times when girls in school wouldn’t sit next to her considering her to be a monster!” Once, a stranger messaged her up saying, “Hey, are you the ugliest girl alive? Why are you still alive?? You should be committing a suicide!”

SUICIDE. That was the easiest thing she could have done. That was also what Nick Vujicic, ‘the man with no limbs’ tried to do  when he was 8 years old after considering himself to be a depressing burden on his family. He failed to commit suicide though. He tried drowning himself in a bucket but the water was shallow and he for one had no hands to pour more water!!

Lizzie and Nick earn million dollars today and are two of the most distinguished motivational speakers in the world! And if by any chance you’ve heard either of them speak, you will realize how, we, take our normalcy and non-ugliness for granted and fail to realize the true value of our lives!!

Lizzie, in one of her YouTube videos, asks the audience, “What defines you as a person? That short height? That ugly face? Those rough hair? That black skin? That pimple on your cheek or those misaligned teeth? Or that beautiful soul residing in your body?”

Nick was bullied inhumanly at his school(he attended a normal school, was a very bright student!) and all those negative, discouraging words only made his resolve to do something great only stronger!!

He got his University degree, started an NGO and wrote a best-selling book and is a highly respected motivational speaker today!

Nick says, “We often remember the words which shouldn’t have been spoken to us. Words are indeed powerful. Bad words can hurt your heart; good words can heal your soul. Look at me body! Is your condition worse than me? If yes, I won’t stop you from quitting. But if it’s a NO, then why do you give up on life? If my hopeless state gives you a hope, then I am blessed!”

Friends, it’s really a time to introspect, can you and I be a little less bitter? Can we stop complaining over trivial matters? Can we stop bullying someone for their looks? I know it’s tough because I do it often myself! But we must give it a try! May be, our lives can be better then!!

Thank you for reading!!

Your thoughts are welcome.