THE MIGHT OF A DEEPER PURPOSE

This morning a friend sent me a story. Something about it intrigued me and I read it. The story goes like this-

A king had a huge army that consisted of men, horses, and elephants. A particular elephant was his favorite. It was his trained accomplice in the war field. It complimented the King’s valor with its calm demeanor, patience, and dutiful attitude. But the elephant aged as time passed and its strength seemed to deplete. Its ability to work went down. The kind-hearted King thought it was prudent that the elephant was not loaded with work and allowed to rest. Ironically, with ample chance to rest coupled with no action, the elephant appeared rather gloomy than happy. One day, when it was on its way to drinking water, the elephant fell in a pit. The attempts to get out failed as it slipped back again and again. Each failed attempt left the elephant more horrified, less hopeful, and its willpower was diminishing little by little.

On learning what transpired, the King sent his men to rescue the elephant. But all efforts went in vain as the elephant was too heavy for the men to bail out. Not to forget, its own anguish also played a part in keeping it stuck. The worried King called for his Minister and turned to him for guidance. The Minister thought for a bit and asked a soldier to blow the trumpet as if to announce the onset of a War. The elephant heard the sound. As the sound of the trumpet continued and magnified, the elephant’s ears widened, eyes broadened! This was a sufficient signal for it to be ready to head to the War Zone. In a matter of few seconds, mustering all its might, the elephant ascended and leaped its way up to the ground above the pit.

This story got me thinking. The elephant which could not step up for its own life did it when it felt summoned for duty and wanted to be there for the King! How did the scenario shift for good! What limited its strength in the first instance when it was trying desperately, anxiously and, amplified it in the latter situation? Some things became clear and got reinforced when seen in context. These were takeaways too.

The strength to look beyond the prevailing difficulty fades in the face of a challenge. When an unprecedented situation knocks, a person feels shackled; he is inclined to feel less resourceful to step up to its demands. He feels fearful, low on perspective, competency & confidence.

Parallels to the story of the elephant, are the instances we read about and hear of. But they are not fictional ones. A non-heroic, normal human being fights his way through the house on fire to save his child. A lady lifts a vehicle weighing tonnes. The untold stories of numerous women who suddenly have to become breadwinners, but brave through it for putting the food on the table and go beyond doing just that, are no secrets. The unfathomable yet real instances of courage from people we least expect amuse us. And the resilience and toughness they exhibit in adversities make us raise our eyebrows. There must be something that brings that shift. Is it not!

Cultivating a deeper sense of Purpose, feeling connected to the Purpose and cultivating a sense of responsibility towards it instills resourcefulness, the drive to bring out our best, tap into our full competency, and augments the relevance of our contribution to the greater goal. The subjective fear, appraising the situation as one to be avoided and be done away with, then, gets replaced with confidence to see the adversity as a manageable challenge and spurs courage to overcome it. It clears the emotional fog about the perception we have of our coping skills, opens up alternative and newer ways to problem-solve, and brings out-of-the-box ideas to reach the end purpose. It is known that some people even come out stronger than before. Some turn pain into purpose.

But the point of relevance is, could such courage, presence, and bravery surface as exceptions and not as a rule? Perhaps not! Could it be applied to regular life situations that are challenging? Perhaps Yes. Could it be the catalyst to experience progress when we feel crippled in physical abilities? Perhaps Yes. They could be the anchors to steer a person from ‘I can’t do anything, I am a vegetable’ thoughts to the state of ‘I am of relevance. I can step up to the situation' feelings. But this is not a reference to a miracle or fleeting feelings of motivation. It is an insight that carving a bigger purpose and intentionally connecting with it, helps unravel our competency, fosters creative ways of dealing with problems, builds our focus, strengthens our resolve to be persistent. It even makes way for breakthroughs in coming out of challenging situations. Applying this insight could be a golden ticket to access our resilience.

It can be aptly said that when we associate ourselves with a meaningful purpose that could make an impact on our family’s well-being, on our clients, on our employees, on our Organizations, on our interest groups, or our community, it transforms into personal values. Conversely, when the Organization, families, society recognize the significance of every person that makes it and demonstrate a value of inclusivity, the individual’s potential can be harnessed and optimized.

Whatever is a win-win deserves a thought, isn’t it!