Identifyin​g Strengths

दुर्बलस्य बलं राजा बालानां रोदनं बलम् |
बलं मूर्खस्य मौनित्वं चौराणाम् अनृतम् बलम् ||

Durbalasya balam raajaa baalaanaam rodanam balam
Balam moorkhasya maunitvam chauraaNaam anrutam balam

Meaning: The strength (bala) of the weak (durbala) is the King. Crying (rodanam) is the strength of a small child (baala). Keeping mum (mauna) is the strength of a fool (moorkha). Telling lies (anrutam) is the strength of a thief (chor). (Let's identify our strengths).

In this shloka, the poet says that every person has some or the other innate strength. It is usually not the same in everyone but we all have our unique strengths; for e.g. a child can get anything done just by crying. The weak and helpless have the King or the government as their strength (who is supposed to help & protect them). A foolish person rather keep quiet, than speak and display his foolishness—thus his strength is silence. And the strength of a thief is telling lies. A thief can not do his work successfully if he can not convincingly lie.

We usually divide people into successful and unsuccessful. The successful have either a monetary inheritance, a high level of intelligence, a daring spirit or some special quality or just plain luck due to which they became successful... or so we think. Whereas the unsuccessful are usually thought of as not having any particular quality or strength, due to which they remained in lower rungs of economic or social levels. But this analysis is faulty and inappropriate. Every person has some strength or the other but it might not have been identified. I might just not know what is special about me. I might have misjudged my strengths and therefore ventured into areas unsuitable to my personality & character. This happens very often in childhood. The aptitude and potential strengths of a child are most commonly mis-identified; or sometimes they are even over-ruled by what his parents think of him, or want him to be. That ruins the entire life of that little child.

At any stage of life, we should constantly try to identify our strengths & our virtues. We should always try to find out what's special about us; and we should feel happy about our discoveries. This is very important because if we don't, then we devalue our precious selves on the parameters of societal life & its various facets. If I am good at singing or painting or pottery, or remembering phone numbers or even playing with kids or whatever little quality we can think of—they might not have economic values; but that is my strength, and I can use it for constructive work. I can exploit it to become a happy man. There is no man on this earth who doesn't have special qualities, and there are no qualities which are useless or worthless.

I am special because I am the son of God; and my Father will not deny me His inheritance. We need to have this thought instilled & affixed on our minds. The nature of the inheritance may be different from child to child, but everyone has been given some or the other gift. My task is to identify my gift correctly and make the best possible use thereof to enhance my journey of life. Let us identify our strengths, gather them and proliferate them multi-fold so to defeat the demons residing in self and society. That is the best way to bring happiness and growth in our lives, as an individual and as a society!