Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Reluctant Saint- The Genesis

The Bard once said : Be True to Thine own Self.

What if My True Self is a Lazy Procrastinating Despicable Alcoholic Selfish Chronic Lying Promiscuous Pompous Jerk?

Ok, take your pick. Insert your own flattering adjectives. You get the picture.

Should we continue being “ourselves” like the whole advertising industry would like you to believe or do we strive for our Greatest Self like the Self Help Gurus would want us to do?

Where does the line merge between being yourself and reaching out for greatness?

They do not mean to tell me that I should give up what is “bad” and embrace what is “good”, do they? That would be horribly judgmental of them. A vice they warn you against( tongue firmly in cheek).


My True self wants to scream at the maniacs on the road who do not value life. In all honesty, it wants to strangle them. My striving-to-be-a-better-self takes a deep breath when he sees a mad truck driver almost run over a scooter-ist.

My True self feels the urge to splurge on the new 20 inch i-mac. My shun-the-materialism-and-look-at-the-gifts-from-nature-self gently tells me to smile at the birds chirping and not Louis Armstrong as he wafts through the connected Bose speakers.

Mr. True self wants to devour that extra helping of tiramisu after a sinfully delicious meal. No prizes for guessing what the Healthy-Body-Equals-healthy-mind-self makes me do on a cold winter morning as I hit the gym.

TrueSelf glances surreptitiously at the Jessica Alba look-alikes that abundantly dot his field of vision. Greatest self would be the perfect husband. Nothing would tempt him ever. Self-today settles for chiding self. And lusting for Beautiful minds instead.

TrueSelf feels good for his friends when they buy a new Mercedes. Oh yeah, who are you kidding, Mate? You Want that bigger and better SUV yourself. Greater self would really feel Happy for Bestfriend and not turn Green.

TrueSelf is lazy about filing taxes. TrueSelf is afraid. Very Afraid. That he does not feel the joy in life. He is horribly dis-interested in People. Great self takes joy in every moment. Makes every day count. Every Moment Happen.

TrueSelf is proud of being able to tell the difference between Wrong and Right. Greater self would not judge people. True self feels immensely delighted in being able to help someone else. And conveniently erases from memory the moments when He has failed his people. What would GreaterSelf do?

They say a Saint has been able to rid himself of all Sins. Reluctantly, I tredge upon that path. My True Self keeps beckoning me-Just Do It, it says

2 comments:

prateeksha said...

The Saint's story from Sainthood to salvation reminds of Tom the cat.

Whenever tempted to gobble up his favourite culinary delight, his true self would applaud him on winning over his arch rival. While the greater self would preach him to spare the little life and don the halo.

The perfect dilemma!

xt@$y-13 said...

Marxism vs Realism

Christianity Vs paganistic.(i think i threaded a little too far with this )