BECASUE ALL CARS ARE NOT A ROLLS ROYCE OR A BENTLEY...

 Pic.: Madan Manik

 I think, one of the main reasons why so many of us are on Facebook is that we all want to ‘express’ ourselves in some way…

Put as ‘assert’ if you like…

We want the world to take notice of us… hear us… acknowledge us… ‘Like’ and ‘Comment’ on us – our pictures, ideas, little achievements, where we eat, what we watch, who we meet, what we buy and all such things. Obviously, only the ‘nice’ things!  And, we wish to be ‘liked’ for that… to be commented upon… Yes, we want to be ‘shared’, ‘promoted’ etc.

Our ego gratification?

Okay, so be it!

There is this FB Post doing rounds telling us, that, Rolls Royce and Bentley don’t advertise and still are the best, the most expensive and the most desired cars in the world… So, we are reminded, that, if we know our real worth, we needn’t blow our own trumpets!

True sir… True.

But, then, only an insignificant percentage of the world’s cars are Rolls Royce and Bentley…  The rest have to be seen, heard, liked, commented upon, shared and promoted…

Maybe, there is a problem there: Yes, when we are desperate to be noticed, heard, liked and commented upon…

I believe, the need to express ourselves before the world is one of the most compelling need in all of us…

So, most of us try to beat our shyness – our inhibitions and our feelings of inadequacy - through our daily expressions, our daily assertions via this medium… Because, it is easy, it is instant, it is far-reaching and, very importantly, it is effective!

Let me tell about myself.

I was so shy as a school and college student that I would die out of panic if I was asked to come forward and say a few words… Why say a few words – why sing, dance or run athletics, even if I was asked to come forward and smile, I would die! When the supervisor stood next to me in the exam-hall, my hands would go numb… When a girl looked into my eyes and smiled, my heart would go cold… Voicing my opinion, taking a firm stand, and telling the world what I wanted to become in life… was a very, very, very scary proposal: “What would they think about me?”…

Yes, “What would they think?”

Years ago, as a young boy, I took to teaching, writing and training precisely to express myself… and, thereby, beat my shyness, overcome my feelings of deficiency. In short, I did all that to feel good about myself… to feel worthwhile and self-confident.

Now, whether or not you are as ‘bad’ as I was … and, whether or not you have a brave heart of Achilles or Casanova… I think, all of us do have this deep need to ‘present’ ourselves ‘nicely’ before the world…

If that makes us feel good about ourselves, 

why not do it?

The real question, therefore, is: How do we feel about ourselves… yes, at the end of the day?

GERALD D’CUNHA