::: Star Weekend Magazine :::

Perceptions

Individual Development

Nusrat Jahan Pritom

Isn't it a wonder how the mélange of millions of people scattered in different places of the world are so unlike each other? Each individual possesses distinct qualities and are of a totally unique combination physically mentally and spiritually.

Although twins look alike, even they are not exactly the same. You would find such a feature, quirk, characteristic or specialty in every person through which you can easily identify that individual and distinguish him/her from thousands of others.

Isn't it a wonder how we take such a curious fact for granted that every time we meet an unknown person we tend to attribute him/her to someone or something we are familiar with: "Oh, you're just like my friend Sam, or "that's what I do too at times." But the whole diversified concoction of thoughts, feelings, worlds gesticulations, et al are hard to comprehend even if we know someone for 10 to 20 years.

An individual is a world- somewhat acknowledged but mostly unexplored. Take yourself for example. Just how much do you know yourself? For instance you may find the last time you checked in your thoughts you were crazy about pop and rock music. However now you are into slower, classical music. It's just a microcosm of how much you yourself can change without even realising how much. The brightest of individuals can became a failure at times and it is true that even the most wretched misanthrope can end up doing the most unthinkable selfless, noble deed. If we take a deeper look into the life of a person we may understand why his state, choices, mentality will continuously change. It is because his life is always in a state of flux. Like the clichéd phrase goes, life is not a bed of roses but more a roller coaster of emotions. Ever since one develops his/her senses- there is fun, pain, anger, -all in rapid succession. And of course there are the times of overload -when all the mixed up emotions jump in simultaneously. Most people are lucky not to get too many overdoses of such times!

Ultimately one lasting feeling that contends and advances the most is confusion. Sometimes people get confused even about what they are feeling or they are confused in identifying their own emotions. The ultimate question is always:" Am I happy?"

We all possess an art of living. However, most of us stumble in how to apply that art. We look for something which we know we cannot find. We rely on hope when it had at times let us down. Isn't this an art?

There are some people who attach significance to every single aspect of life; they are the ones who think twice before killing a fly. On the other side of the spectrum are those who think life is a total waste and nothing has meaning. Then there are those who tend to fritter away their lives in addiction and falsity. Actually, it is easy to comprehend the physical, mental, academic and professional development of a person. But it's no easy job' to identify the stages in the moral development of a person. We are all too familiar with saints who have sullied their positions as saints and have fallen from grace. In contemporarily times, we are so used to witnessing such corruption that we think twice before believing a saint. And if one does turn out to be virtuous, well, it's something more of a miracle as the world is full of so many hypocrites. Too much vice, and so little space for virtue that we have eventually lost something very valuable- trust.

Many intricacies exist in our current urban lives further complicated by media hype, propaganda. No wonder people are so complex these days!

There are too many stereotypes now preventing a person from relying only on instincts and becoming an original human being, not a puppet. We try hard to be somebody we are not, so hard that eventually we forget who or what we are in the first place. Such is the game of life. If life is a game, it seems to be a very unfair one especially when at times when we do get what we want the game is over.