It is often said that the company you keep defines who you are and influences who you become. Growing up, I didn’t have many friends; mostly, it was family and cousins, given that we are blessed with a large extended family. As I entered middle school, I started developing a small group of friends. Over the years, my circle has grown wider and more diverse, encompassing friends, family, and well-wishers. Each of them plays an important role in my life and influences my behavior, preferences, and direction. One thing I recently realized is that it’s not just the people you hang out with but also those you look up to who have an immense impact on our character formation. To many, this may be obvious, and something I also knew, but what I’ve come to realize is that things are not as clear-cut as black and white as we would like them to be.

Currently, during my trip to India, I am thoroughly enjoying my time with a bunch of folks from my dad’s office who are part of the Digital Team. We share a common interest in video editing, photography, etc. Simply by spending a few days with them, eating lunch together, and going out for afternoon tea, my food habits have changed. As many people who know me would say, I am a junk food lover and not a big fan of vegetables, but now, for lunch, I am eating bitter melon and enjoying it. This made me reflect on my past and contemplate the influences in my life.

Growing up, I always enjoyed watching people play carrom and billiards, even though I wasn’t naturally talented at them. However, I wanted to be like them because I looked up to them. In the process, I began neglecting the things I was genuinely good at, such as archery and baking. Over time, I stopped engaging in those activities as frequently. I vividly recall a specific incident involving me and my cousin. We went on a family trip to Lake Tahoe, and although I typically ski and am decently good at it, I decided to try snowboarding this time. That day, after numerous falls and getting back up, I realized that skiing was my true calling, even though I already knew that before signing up for snowboarding. The only reason I wanted to snowboard was to impress my cousin and appear cool. The reality was that his love for me would not have changed, regardless of my choice.

It took me a while to realize, as I was growing up, that while it’s beneficial to have role models and people whom you aspire to be like, you should never undermine your own strengths and natural talents. It is often said that comparison is the thief of joy, but I don’t necessarily believe that. Rajen uncle once mentioned that the answers to life lie in practicing self-observation. Self-observation is the process of bringing consciousness to our actions, and we can improve this by reflecting and observing our actions each night.

Well, I wanted to share this topic with all of you because it’s something we all know, but often forget in the rush of life. My personal takeaway is that it’s always a good thing to compare yourself to your past self and see how much you have grown or how much you still need to improve. However, it is true that you should not compare your skills to those of others because we all have our own strengths and weaknesses. Thank you all for being guides and positive influences in my life during my formative years. If you haven’t already shared your quote with me, as a guide, please do so, as you light the candles for the chandelier of my life, by sharing an inspiring quote at https://www.anujshah.com/our-chandelier/. And once again, thank you all for helping me bring my life into focus.