You have Yourself
You are born alone. You die alone. Then why seek the help of others during life? When you are sad, you experience the sorrow yourself. When you are happy, you experience the joy yourself. Don’t you walk on the strength of your own two feet? The truth is that you are your own best helper. “God helps those who help themselves.” You are responsible for your own success or failure. It depends upon your self-confidence. If you lose your self-confidence, you lose the game. If you build self-confidence, you win. Besides, if you do not have confidence in yourself, how can a second person give you any help?
If you want to walk, you have to use your feet. The moment you become dependent on someone else, you lose your self-confidence. And unless you have self-confidence, you cannot be successful. Help yourself, you will succeed.
Have you not heard the story of the bird and the farmer? So long as the farmer waited for someone to come along and harvest his field for him, the bird lived comfortably with her chicks. She had nothing to fear because she knew no one would come to help the farmer and her nest would remain safe. One day, the farmer and his son decided to harvest the crop themselves. The bird was forced to find another nesting spot.
Of course your mother, father, brothers, sisters, and friends – all of them will come to your aid. But their effort is very small and temporary. It cannot last for ever. Look at the huge figures made during Dussehra. They stand up with the help of ropes. But they are quite flimsy and one strong wind can blow them off. Now look at the tree. How straight and strong it stands. This is because it stands on its own roots. You too must learn to stand on your own feet.
Do you know what makes you strong? God has given you hope, courage, patience, self-confidence, fearlessness, calmness and so many good qualities. How can you be alone? When you read about the lives of great leaders, you realize how you must live.
When Gandhiji went to South Africa, Indians there were being treated very badly because of the color differences in that country. He was the first person to fight racialism.
On March12, 1930, when he undertook the now famous Dandi March from Sabarmathi in order to break the salt law. People did not even imagine that by merely walking up to the sea and making salt, it was possible to win freedom from the British. Gandhiji managed to shake the foundations of the British empire in India by his action.
Even now thousands of people from all over India go to Hardwar for the Kumbh Mela. They believe that if they bathe in the river Ganges during the Kumbh Mela, all their sins will be washed away.
Swami Dayanand was a social reformer. He saw how people were being fooled into believing this was true. He was troubled by their blind faith. So, when people collected at Hardwar, he stood up and declared to them: “Good people, the images you worship are made of stone. They have no life. They will not make any of your wishes come true. You cannot wash your sins away in this water. Water cannot wash off the dirt in your heart. You must purify your heart for that. Do not run behind pandits and purohits. Run away from them.”
These reformers were all alone. When these people can go ahead alone and turn the rising crowd from the path they feel wrong, can you not help even yourself? Did not these people put forth the example that nothing is impossible for even a single soul.
The lion always walks alone. It is the sheep that keep in a herd. Have faith in yourself. Believe in yourself. Trust yourself. You cannot climb Mount Everest if you depend on others. Remember, you are not alone. You have yourself.
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