You Are All Winners!

You Are All Winners!

Today, I felt that I should share a few words with you.

I am not writing these words with the thought that I am in a position to give you advice.

Nor do I consider myself a learned person standing at the summit of knowledge, looking down upon those below and showing them the way.

Rather, I share these thoughts as one among you standing at the threshold of old age and looking back at the path I have travelled.

These words arise from the wisdom I have gained through what I have seen and experienced in my life; from the times I have succeeded and, even more so, from the many times I have failed from my mistakes and from the lessons those mistakes have taught me.

If, perhaps, you find even a small ray of light here that is useful to you, that alone will be the greatest purpose of this sharing.

On this great stage called the world, we are acting out the drama called our life.

At times, we are the heroes.

At times, we are the villains.

At times, we are merely the audience.

And the astonishing truth is that we are also the directors of this drama!

When a scene unfolds beautifully, we tell ourselves,

“I have achieved it!”

We savour the sweetness of success.

We accept the appreciation.

We receive the rewards that come with it.

But what happens when a scene does not unfold according to our expectations?

Then our story changes.

“He was the reason…”

“She was the reason…”

“The circumstances were not right…”

“I was not given an opportunity…”

“The time was not in my favour…”

We begin searching for reasons.

Sometimes, there may indeed be genuine reasons.

I cannot deny that.

Everything in life is not within our control.

But have we ever asked ourselves one important question?

“What exactly do I call success? And what exactly do I call failure?”

Whose definition of success are we following?

My Young Friends,

From childhood, the standards by which we measure success are gradually created within us.

Good marks — success.

A good job — success.

A high salary — success.

A beautiful home — success.

An expensive car — success.

Fame — success.

Social recognition — success.

Being in a higher position than someone else — success.

I am not saying that any of these things are wrong.

But let me ask you one question:

Beyond all these things, how often have we asked ourselves,

“Am I living my life meaningfully?”

What happens when we fail to write our own definition of success and instead confine ourselves within a definition written by others?

We begin judging our own lives by constantly looking at the lives of others.

That is where comparison is born.

Comparison is  the Silent Thief of Happiness

One of the greatest challenges facing today’s younger generation is comparison.

“He has already achieved so much!”

“She has progressed so far!”

“He accomplished this at such a young age!”

“Why am I still here?”

We ask ourselves these questions and make ourselves unhappy.

But we forget one important thing.

His question paper is different.
Your question paper is different.

Twenty students may sit in the same examination hall and receive the same question paper.

But in the examination called life, each person is given a different question paper.

For one person, financial difficulties may be the question.

For another, it may be health.

For someone else, relationships may be the question.

For another, loneliness.

For one person, the question may be how to remain true to oneself amidst fame and wealth.

For another, it may be learning to endure failure.

For someone else, it may be learning how to remain human even after achieving great success.

When the questions are different, how can we compare the answers?

Never forget that your path belongs to you.

Someone may have received everything in life without much struggle.

Another person may have shed blood, sweat and tears for every small success.

From the outside, the first may appear to be the successful one, while the second may appear to be someone who is still struggling.

But who is truly successful?

Can we determine that so easily?

The one who struggled may have learned the deeper value of life.

The one who waited may have learned patience.

The one who lost may have learned detachment.

The one who failed may have gained the strength to rise again.

The one who walked alone may have discovered himself.

Then, is success in life only about what we have gained?

Is it not also about:

What have we understood?

What have we experienced?

How much have we grown?

How much more loving have we become?

How much more human have we become?

If Life Is an Examination…

Let us imagine that life is an examination.

From a spiritual perspective, it is said that our soul has come into this worldly journey seeking certain experiences.

When we are born, we do not remember that search.

But as life moves forward, certain people enter our lives.

Certain events break us.

Certain events lift us up.

Certain separations transform us.

Certain failures awaken us.

And certain successes reveal our ego to us.

Every experience teaches us something.

Therefore, instead of asking every time,

“Why did this happen to me?”

let us begin asking,

“What am I meant to learn from this?”

That one question can change the direction of your life.

From “Why Me?” to “What Next?” is the way forwatd

When sorrow enters our lives, it is natural to ask,

“Why me?”

But do not remain trapped within that question for too long.

After it, ask another question:

“All right… this has happened. What am I going to do now?”

That is recovery.

We may not always be able to change what has happened.

But we can change the response we give to what has happened.

We cannot erase the past.

But we can prevent the past from writing our future.

We may not always be able to avoid falling.

But we can decide whether to remain where we fell or get back up and stand again.

What Is Failure? do we really know?

My young friends,

Change the way you think about failure.

If an attempt does not produce the result you expected, it is not necessarily failure.

It is information.

It is information life gives us:

“This is what happens when you travel along this particular path.”

When one door closes, the purpose of life is not to sit in front of that door and weep.

Look for another door.

If there is no door, look for a window.

And if there is no window either…

look within yourself and ask whether you have the courage to create a new door.

Your greatest asset is not your money.

It is not your education.

It is not your position.

It is your ability to rise again.

Live in the Present Moment

Many times, we live in two places.

In the past.

Or in the future.

We regret the past:

“I should not have done that…”

“If only that had not happened…”

Or we search for happiness in the future:

“Tomorrow I will do this…”

“One day I will be happy…”

But where is life?

In this moment.

Yesterday is no longer in our hands.

Tomorrow has not yet arrived in our hands.

What we truly have is only this moment.

When we begin to experience and live in this moment, life slowly begins to reveal its secrets.

Taste your cup of tea.

Notice a friend’s laughter.

Cherish your mother’s voice.

Try to understand your father’s silence.

When it rains, experience the fragrance of the earth.

When the wind touches your face, feel it.

Spend a few moments talking to yourself.

Life is not merely the sum of great achievements.

It is also the sum of small moments lived fully.

Nights and Dawns are gifts of the nature

Only when there are nights can we understand the beauty of dawn.

Only when there is sorrow can we understand the depth of happiness.

Only through loss do we understand the value of what we have.

Only through loneliness do we understand the preciousness of relationships.

Only through failure do we taste the sweetness of success.

Life is not a painting created in a single colour.

It contains darkness.

And light.

Tears.

And laughter.

Falls.

And rises.

Only when all these are brought together does the painting called life become complete.

Therefore, do not be afraid of the darkness that enters your life.

Night performs its duty so that dawn may arrive.

Do Not Try to Become Someone Else

My young friends,

Respect the uniqueness within you.

Do not lose yourself in the desire to become like someone else.

The world does not need another “them.”

It needs the authentic you.

Learn from others.

Take inspiration from their successes.

Learn lessons from their mistakes.

But never make their lives the measuring scale for your own life.

Your path is yours.

Your pace is yours.

Your lessons are yours.

And the meaning of your journey is yours as well.

You Are All Winners!

My most important message to you today is this:

You are all winners!

You are not a failure simply because you have not yet reached your destination.

The very fact that you are still moving forward is itself a sign of your success.

If you have fallen and risen again—

you are a winner.

If you have cried and yet tried to smile again the next day—

you are a winner.

If you have begun to understand yourself—

you are a winner.

If, instead of becoming jealous of another person’s success, you have begun to learn from it—

you are a winner.

If you are trying to become even a little better than the person you were yesterday—

you are already a winner.

My Beloved Younger Generation,

Life will not always give you everything you want.

But it will teach you what you need to learn.

Some people will come into your life to love you.

Some will leave you.

Some will lift you up.

Some will hurt you.

But every person will write at least one page in the book called your life before moving on.

Do not tear those pages away.

Some pages may have been written with tears.

Some with laughter.

Some may be filled with mistakes.

But all of them together have created the person you are today.

Therefore—

Do not compare yourself.

Do not hate yourself.

Do not be ashamed of your past.

Do not lose heart because of your failures.

Trust your journey.

Listen to the voice within you.

Experience every moment life gives you with awareness.

Success is not merely reaching the destination.

It is also being able to travel through every moment of the journey without losing yourself.

What I have shared is not advice.

They are simply some of the footprints I have seen when standing at the threshold of old age and looking back along the road I have travelled.

Some of them may guide you.

You may reject some of them.

And that is perfectly all right.

Because, ultimately, you are the one who must write the answer to your own life.

Your question paper is unique.

Your journey is unique.

Your experiences are unique.

Therefore, your success is unique as well.

In this beautiful drama called life, whatever the scene may be, act with your whole heart until the curtain falls.

Today, the only thing you truly have is—

this moment.

Live it with love.

Accept it with gratitude.

Savour it with joy.

Then, one day, when you look back, you will not need to ask yourself,

“Did I win?”

Your heart will quietly say:

“Yes… I lived. And that itself is my victory.”

My beloved younger generation,

You are all winners!

Believe in yourself.

Believe in your journey.

Believe in life.

You can do it.

With love,

Sakthi Sakthithasan