Understanding Yourself

Vikas was sitting with his English teacher. Earlier during the day, Vikas had fought with Saurabh. The Principal of his school had witnessed the fight and had admonished both of them. Vikas was miserable. He had not meant to say all those mean things to Saurabh. But he had been unable to control his anger during the fight.

Mrs Verma, his teacher, invited him to the staffroom to talk about the incident. She said, 'Don't worry, Vikas. We will work through this together. She asked, 'Why did you say those things to Saurabh?' Vikas said, 'I lost my temper all of a sudden. But now I regret saying those things. I do not want to hurt his feelings.' Mrs Verma asked, 'Do you often feel angry and confused, Vikas?' He said, 'Yes, I do. Nobody understands how I feel. I wish somebody would understand."

Mrs Verma said, 'Vikas, you are growing up. You want people to acknowledge your identity. Am I right?"

Vikas nodded his head. Mrs Verma said, 'You recognise that you are growing up and that is good. Growth is a wonderful process. It gives you an identity. It gives you a lot of strength and energy. At the same time it also calls for self-acceptance. You need to accept yourself as you are. Don't compare yourself with others. You are different and special.'

Vikas was curious and asked, 'Does it happen only to me or to others too?" 'It happens to everybody. I have also gone through that. How we handle it is important', said Mrs Verma.

'Please tell me', said Vikas. 'You need to take responsibility for your life. You must know that everyone has his or her own desires. We need to respect that. Therefore, we should listen to people, understand their point of view and appreciate their strengths and weaknesses', replied Mrs Verma.

'But what if they offend us?', asked Vikas. 'Well, try to understand the circumstances in which things happen. Do not react immediately. We often regret the things that we impulsively say or do. That is what happened in your case. Am I right?', asked Mrs Verma..

Vikas thoughtfully nodded his head. He spent some more time with Mrs Verma and felt more relaxed after his questions were answered.

That afternoon, Vikas and Saurabh stood before the Principal. Saurabh said, 'Vikas has apologised to me. He said that he would never behave like that again. I accept it was my fault as well."

The Principal looked at both the boys. She walked down to Vikas and said 'Vikas, I am proud of you. This is exemplary behaviour.

There are a few things that we should do while growing up to make the process of adolescence easier.

*We must talk to our parents about our physical and emotional needs to get proper guidance.

*We should be patient and respect the views of other people.

*We must ensure that we do not take impulsive decisions or behave aggressively.

*We must behave politely with people.

*We must avoid getting involved in bad activities under the influence of our peers.

The End..