By : Robert Joseph Submitted 2007-04-09 15:11:11
While getting an education is important, human potential is not so limited that it can be measured merely by an apitude for rote learning. Grades are just one means by which to reveal the gem at the center of your life. So do not evaluate yourself solely on grades or the school you attend.
It has been said recently that one's EQ is more important that one's IQ. This attests to the importance of such broadranging human qualities as compassion or a staunch fighting spirit, which no IQ test can guage. For this reason, it is foolish to think that your grades at sixteen or eighteen or whatever, will determine the rest of your life. There's much more to human potential than that.
Your studies are important. But your present grades do not doom you to a less-than-bright future. If you think this way, you will keep yourself from nurturing your abilities. If you give up trying to mine the gem in your life, your personal development will cease. This is something to avoid at all costs.
Some get accepted at universities but don't work hard there. There are some who become overbearing and arrogant. The world needs leaders-- not elitists. Others stop striving for personal growth after entering a big company or becoming bureaucrats, doctors, or lawyers. Some people who graduate from top universities even resort to crime. Many people, achieving their personal goals, forget to work for others.
Actually, graduating and getting a job is just the beginning, not the final destination. But many think only about what they want to become, not what they can contribute to the society. Greatness as a human being is not determined by educational background or social position.
Your future depends on the efforts you make and whether you are walking the correct path. It's not important how you compare to others but how you compare to who you were yesterday.
The question is how we can live happily, in a way true to ourselves, where we can always look forward and advance. Suppose you are lost in the jungle. You want to find your way out and reach the ocean but don't know which way to go. What do you do? The answer is to keep moving ahead. Eventually, you will reach a river, and when you follow the river downstream, you will reach the ocean.
Being young means wrestling with all kinds of problems. It means resolving them, in spite of all difficulties, pushing aside the dark clouds of despair and advancing toward the sun, toward hope. Such strength and resilience are the hallmarks of youth.
Buddhists gain the widsom throught daily practice that the important thing is to keep moving forward. While struggling with various problems, it is vital that you advance-- even if it's only one or two inches. If you do so, later, when you look back you'll see that you have actually made your way through the jungle in no time.
Author Resource: From the book "The Way Of Youth"
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