Light. Let me be.

Your identity.

This post is based on what your identity is, and not on what, or who you are. There's a difference between the two. Having said that, let's begin.

Everyone wants to be accepted. Some try fitting in, whereas some change their surroundings, or even people, to suit their own preferential environment. I simply detest the people belonging to the latter group. Why change others if you're too thick to adjust yourself? Isn't it good manners to change yourself to suit the needs of others? An unsaid goodwill? 

We see a popular social pattern here. A pattern, most of us are familiar with as it can be observed during many circumstances. The bad, the one's with attitude, prevail. While the one's who try to keep other's happy, or simply hide, do not. 

So is it good? To have the air of an attitude around you? Or is it better to be helpful, and still be the saint?

I recently started off with my under grad college. New place, new people, new surroundings, pulled out of my shell, embarking on a new journey all together. I've seen people try to fit in. Some are good at molding others too. Perhaps the 'I don't give a damn attitude' works. To make a difference, to have an identity, you need to differ. If you don't, you're just another person, like a sheep, allowing the herd to guide you.

Mind you. I'm not trying to say that being the sheep is bad. You always have a choice. And no choice is wrong. Nothing is. But in this post, I'm purely going to try and figure out how one can make a difference. Cuz, admit it. Most of us want to.

One can differ only when he or she is confident enough to say no. Or if he or she perhaps has an opinion about everything. There will be a few people, who would prefer to keep quiet, already afraid of how others might judge them. But trust me, when you silently help others, while not trying to figure out your own self, you're helping them, but not yourself.

Don't beg to differ. But stick to your own morals and values. Speak about them. Don't be highly opinionated, but for building your own identity, which you rightly should, step up. Confidence is secondary. You need belief. That's the first step. Believe in yourself, and  confidence will follow. Shortly after, your own unique identity will reveal itself, which would have been built up slowly, with every word you speak, or every gesture you make.

Identities may change from place to place, depending on how you tackle situations in different places. The identity on a social networking profile, for example, could easily be different from the one you actually have with most of your closest friends. 

People identify you in their own ways. So even if say, you're in a group of 20 colleagues, there will be 20 unique identities of you. If you differ though, make a difference, stay, as I said, opinionated, these identities will merge up to form a better picture of what you are personally.

Your identity could be a positive, or a negative one. Negative identities are stronger, and the people who have it, might always have an extra edge. But it's a wrong way. A short cut. And short cut's never work. Be positive, hard working, and in a long run, it shall be beneficial. It's a stable way of thinking too.

What you truly are, is always going to be different than what you think you are. What you show though, can easily be changed. So even if you are being yourself, try and put forth your views a little creatively. How other's see you as cannot be changed much unless you are really good at tackling people and their psyche. All in all, nothing except the real you is true. And no one can ever describe that real you perfectly.

Until then, do try and make a difference. Even if it is in a small way, do try and have a positive identity. There's no fun in being the sheep. (Not that I'd hate you for being one! But it's simply not any fun.) 

Ciao! Fellow travelers!  

Crash and burn, then rise like a phoenix.

Sometimes, I feel, that the cycles of the daily rituals get a bit too repetitive. Take a phoenix for example. The poor mythical creature lives to die, then rises up from the ashes... Only to die again.

Shut your eyes right now. Think. What would happen if you were to live for only 10 seconds more. When one say's that the whole life flashes before you, as you're about to die, it's just an idea. For one truly doesn't remain, to remember enough the thoughts of his last second. We live as if we would live forever, simply forgetting that one day, at one particular moment, everything that ever was, or would be, is going to vanish into a mysterious abyss. A place we probably would never know anything about.

So why do we enjoy this daily roller coaster life? Action. That's what we need. An action on the spur, or perhaps stretched for a long time. But action is needed. Something for the community. Something for evolution. Stop and stare, to realize where you are. Once you have, gear up, and start moving. You're going to make a difference in this world, no matter by what magnitude.

The phoenix shall die one day. But it grows, heals, helps, while it lives. Death is just another start for the creature.