Every Sunday, when I attend church, I always come across a few beggars who sit at the entrance gate. A multitude of people walks past them. Some attend to them by giving them some money, yet others go unnoticed. They hope to feel cared.

Every day, I pass by my students at college. They greet me as they walk by. When I greet them back, they smile back with respect. It doesn’t matter at what hour of the day it happens, they still do it every single time.

When I get back home, my mother waits for me and greets me. It doesn’t matter how her day went, yet she smiles back at me every time I say, “Mom, I’m back home.”.

So seamlessly do these things happen every single day. Yet, in the rush of time, we tend to ignore the beauty behind such small gestures. We press on with stress on things that matter the most to us yet forget what a simple attention could do to people around us.

Pay attention. The world yearns for it.

During various moments in life, we come across situations where there is a confusion between our personal value systems and the surrounding environment.

We come across people with varied backgrounds. The likes of religion, language, culture, experiences affect us to a greater extent where the thin line of one’s own self and people around us tends to weaken over time. There is a sense of disillusionment that we go through questioning our existence. Questions like, “ Am I being myself?”, “ Does the people around me influence me so much that I am not able to make a decision?” are few of the questions we go through every now and then.

We need to stop here a little and reflect if these questions need an answer. If there is a resounding yes; STAND UP.

STAND UP: Refers to not being egoistic or not being concerned about other values and systems. It simply means putting your foot down to what you believe be right.

Accusing others of being problematic or wrong doesn’t sort out anything. Acceptance is important. However, we need to have a sense of understanding multiple perspectives around us, each having its own ideologies and values. Living in a world of subjectivity has its own pros and cons. However, each comes with its sense of wisdom and experiences.

We ought to own up to our thoughts yet be able to have an openness to other’s opinions even if it makes things uncomfortable within oneself.

However, STAND UP!

Samuel Rukshshan T.J

Assistant Professor of Psychology

Indian Institute of Psychology and Research (IIPR)

Bengaluru