You are what you think you are

You are a successful person. This is not a meaningless compliment. This is a biological fact. You may ask me how I know that you are really a successful person.

We are homo sapiens, the recent but the most successful species on earth. And 98.2 per cent of species that appeared on the face of the earth are already extinct. Like dinosaurs, they are now part of the earth’s fossils. We can see their skeletal remains in natural history museums.

Your father lived long enough to reproduce. Your grandfather lived long enough to leave his genes to your father before he had passed away. All your ancestors before your grandfather lived healthily till they married and reproduced. That is the proof that they had successfully passed on the most successful genes for a few hundred thousand generations. All your thousands of ancestors were strong, intelligent and very well adaptive people. Therefore, you are the progeny of many generations of successful men and women. You have powerful genes that were passed on through millions of generations. This is a fact of evolution, none can deny that.

Any living human being is a successful person. Unsuccessful people have already perished, some of them even before they attained the age of five years. About 9 million children die all over the world before they attain the age of five, a fourth of these children are from India. It is quite unfortunate, but true. Hunger, diseases, accidents and disaster are the chief causes of this holocaust. But you have fought well against the dangerous micro-organisms to lead a healthy life. You have the financial freedom to take care of your food, shelter and clothes and hence you are successful person.

Therefore, accept the fact that you have inherited a great legacy; a legacy of highly successful species on earth. You are going to pass the legacy of your great ancestors to the next generation. You are the result of 4 billion years of evolutionary success. Therefore act like it.

No matter you are the topper in board exam or 10 entrance exam, you are already a successful person. You have to only make use of your talent to create your public and private victories. Take a look at a mosquito. How tiny it is, but one mosquito can completely take the sleep from you. It is so powerful with few thousands cells in its body. You have 100 billion cells. Hence you can create many success stories, all by yourself.

‘You can do what I cannot do,

I can do what you cannot do

Together we can do great things’.

– Mother Theresa

( The author is the ADGP of Tamil Nadu Coastal Security Group )

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author’s own