Where There’s a Will
There’s a Way
Strong will makes you able to learn from experience, and it
is a fact that for a sincere person, experience is a successful teacher.
Some years ago I spent a few days in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda in central Africa. During this visit, I happened to meet a Gujarati Indian, who was living in Kigali as an immigrant. He was running a cloth shop in the city.
One day I visited his shop and found that he was able to deal with his customers in fluent and understandable English. He seemed to have a good working knowledge of the language. One of his friends told me that there was an interesting story behind his English. When this Gujarati Indian first came to Kigali, and opened his shop, he was ignorant of the English language. But a large number of his customers were English-speaking, so he felt compelled to try to speak in English. During the early days, his English was far from correct. One day someone said to him, “If you are not in a position to speak correct English, why are you trying to speak in English?” The shopkeeper simply replied, “I speak incorrect English so that I may be able to speak correct English.”
And so it came about. In two years’ time, he was able to deal with his customers in the English language. When I met him, he was fluent in English as a means of communication, and for a shopkeeper that was quite good enough.
This success story bears out the old saying, ‘Where there’s a will there’s a way’. If you have a strong enough will to achieve something, you will do so, sooner or later. Strong will itself is like successful schooling. Strong will makes you able to learn from experience, and it is a fact that for a sincere person, experience is a successful teacher.
Studies of the human brain tell us that it contains numerous windows. Some are open and some are closed. It requires a compelling situation to open the closed windows of the mind. If one has a shocking experience and takes it quite seriously, that will automatically open those closed doors of the mind. This process can sometimes bring about miracles: a person can then play a role that was unimaginable prior to that experience. This principle can be applied to almost every situation, big or small. Anyone can perform a miracle, the only condition being that he should have the capacity to turn the shocking moment to good account.
In psychology there is a theory that is called the brainstorm theory and this explains such abnormal events. According to psychological studies, when there is a shocking experience, there is a storm in the human brain. This brainstorm activates the dormant cells of the mind, and the result is that one becomes capable of doing what one could not have accomplished in a normal situation.
There are numerous examples in history that confirm this theory. One Indian example is that of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891 – 1956). He was born into a poor untouchable family. As a boy, he found himself rejected in his own society. This sad experience was very strong, but he decided to overcome this situation. After much hard work, he successfully completed his education, and finally emerged as a great mind in the drawing up of the Indian Constitution. After Independence he was appointed as the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution.
What is imperative in such a situation is that one who faces such adversity should not become demoralized, but should try to overlook other people’s behaviour towards him, so that he may unfold his own potential. Soon he will find that he is at the top of the ladder of achievement.
The will, if it is strong, can unfold one’s hidden potential. But there is a difference between willing and wishing. Do not follow any unrealistic wish: follow your true will and you will be able to add your name to the list of super achievers.
