On life (116) – ”I or the Other?” – 5/3/2016

   Humanity has always attempted the question, “I or the other?” Yet, few people answered it correctly. Some people focus on others, comparing them with themselves. Meanwhile, others focus on themselves and, therefore, discover their goals and interests. This, in turn, leads them to knowing how much they have developed.

   Winning does not, therefore, mean that you are number one. Rather, it means that you are better than before. Thus, as man strives toward success and winning, he might take one of two contradictory paths: either to think he is better than the others, or to contemplate his achievements, comparing his present to his past to see if he has grown and developed. This latter category is that of the successful who focus on their goals and train themselves to be better than themselves!

   Thus, the first type leads a thorny path which ends in pain. William Shakespeare thinks that the fiercest battle you can ever fight is trying to be another person, just to please the others. How difficult it is to be severed from yourself, only to be like the others! How hard it is to lose your uniqueness to become their feeble reflection! It is quite an ordeal to fail to recognize your potential as you compare it with others’.

   The second type focuses on his goals. He always compares his achievements to his plans. In effect, he outstands himself, striding toward the top, looking for his talents and developing them. Throughout, he keeps encouraging others: for he knows that every human being has a special gift. Thus, Mark Twain advises his readership to avoid whoever tries to belittle their ambition: for these are the malicious. On the other hand, the great inspire you to be one of them.

Life is too short to be lived as a replica of what others do or feel.

General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center