A few years ago, when I first began working on what we now know as Exemplaris, I was approached by a highly respected and senior member of my community, reputed to be worldly-wise, deeply pious and blessed with the the utmost reverence by all who knew him. He offered me a piece of his mind, which he claimed to be in support of what I stand for, what I hope to achieve and, out of genuine concern for me. My sceptic self, of course, paid little heed to his words at the time - I never trusted esoteric messages arising from unquestioning blind faith - and still dont. Blind faith I can challenge and destroy in minutes; wisdom, it turns out, I cannot. I have, since then, realised a profound truth: He was right. He was right and I was wrong not to listen. As with all who hold a deep desire to change the status quo, ideologically driven to better themselves and their fellow humans, I assumed it was merely a criticism of my convictions. THIS is what he said, more or less: Banti, what you hope to achieve will largely be ridiculed, rejected and ignored. People fear what they cannot understand, people fear change, even though they know there is nothing they can do about it. They are resentful of what is going on in their OWN lives, and by putting yourself on the forefront representing changing social mores, you are giving them a reason to focus on and blame their own failings on. You will come under scrutiny, people will hang on every word you say, every move you make to find something they can rant about, and trust me, if they find nothing, they will make something up. I love what you are doing, and everyone knows its desperately needed, but I hope you have to courage to withstand what you will have to endure. People will vilify you; they will talk ill of you, they will try and discredit your person, your morals, your honesty, and your conduct. They will talk of you, they will gossip and they will whisper. They will make things up, depending on how twisted their own minds are. Some of it will come from the most unexpected people - people you consider friends/family, which will be the biggest heart-breaker of all. Of course, when confronted, none of them will have any substance or evidence to back up what they say. There will be plenty of smoke, but there will be no fire. And you will never get any thanks for what you do, or who you help. I hope you have the strength to ignore and bear all that, because you will need it. Yep, he was on the money and right on pretty much everything he said. I just called him and told him that. As for thanks or gratitude from anyone I have done anything for, I dont want any. Keep it. You probably need it more than I do. And if you havent ever talked to me, you know nothing. Nothing.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 14:41:07 +0000
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