Glory
Recently one old colleague shared a link of some article which has been rewritten multiple times trying to relive glory of an Institution that surrendered its identity 18 years back. The author proclaims to be father of some technology (apparently Indians love to be called father of something in their lives and like an irresponsible father don't care much about its upbringing :p) and writes a lengthy narration of it. This post is not a rebuttal of his claims and his stories. I wasn't there to witness his glory and I really don't care about someone blowing his horn every 5 years trying to remind people that he did something at some point of time. On the other hand, my real beef is with the word Glory :P
But isn't glory a nice thing to have? It's a good motivator. If you are serious about it, you will achieve it, you are bound to achieve it. And hurray, you finally achieved it! So everyone is congratulating you. You are feeling on top of the mountain. And then... the world moves on. But you, my dear, can't climb down the mountain. Because suddenly you see that mountain as the trophy. You cannot climb down of it while the crowd below has dispersed and has gotten busy with their life, their daily challenges and their struggle with survival. But you are missing the lime light now. How can those thankless creatures forget what I have done for them? You start feeling angry on most days and then you blow up your trumpet in between trying to remind them what you did for them. And world just couldn't care less.
There's nothing in this world that can keep it from moving forward. Not even covid-19 for that matter. The world will continue to move and life will continue to flourish. If not humans then other lives, other species. That's how the world operates. You slow down, you stop but the world cannot. It will leave you behind and that's alright. Because everyone don't walk with the same pace. That's another beauty of the world. You will always find company of those who are walking with your pace, so you are not alone even if you can't catch up with your old pals, you will get new ones. That's how you move through life while the world is moving at its own pace. If you accept this then you don't worry about glory. You don't turn back trying to remember those golden days or remind others already moving ahead what your past means for them.
My another beef with glory thing is that everyone wants to appear noble with it. There's no honesty in those remembrances. You won't remember how many people you crushed beneath your feet to reach that momentary heights of yours. You won't remember how many people you betrayed with your actions whose work, whose efforts you labeled as your own. Glorification is 30% fact, 50% fiction and 20% coincidence. But the worst part is that it doesn't allow your ego to fade away and keeps you alienated till you are in play and then a trumpet blower when you are out of the play. It's a poison that you seek without knowing how to digest it. Having said that, wish you all a glorious life ahead :)