Dare to Bare Your Soul: A One of a Kind Poem on Risk
An Honest Poem
This poem expresses the poet’s dilemma between being rude and being honest. She concludes that growth comes by being honest to oneself and to the loved ones because, as risky as it may seem, being honest is equally liberating. On deliberating, she also realizes that everyone is burdened with their own set of problems and circumstances, which skews their thinking and thereby their actions.
Risk: The Poem
She was young:
She was told not to get stung,
And not to sting with her sharp tongue.
'To ignore and avoid: Ignorance is bliss' they said,
And this was all the more why she sung.
Was the context not set right or did her mind despise?
For it did not make any sense and it went wild.
Every night felt like a lifetime of creating a story in disguise,
As she couldn't ignore, she had to pay the price.
Each time she felt the misguide.
Is it good to be a Whisp,
Or is it rude to be crisp?
Perhaps, it is better to be low-key and take less risk!
She struggles, breaks and confides,
Finally emerging ready to take risks.
She questions which one is right?
To surrender or to wish?
Which one is better with the chosen risk?
And the answer she caught from a 'phrase she had inhaled',
Be kind and honest - as all are burdened with their unique hardships.
Taking a Risk!
These are a few thoughts that I had in my mind. I accept and express a few things with integrity. Yes, there was a time when I decided that being rude would be better than being kind and honest. I also believe that it is difficult to express my thoughts entirely, without feeling any exposure and vulnerability.
Chuck PalahniukThe only way to find true happiness is to risk being completely cut open.
If I’m not being honest, I don’t think I can grow, so here I am sharing this poem. I think that some of you might be able to relate it with your own lives. If some of you were not able to accept it, you should know that you have support, and all the love that you need. All of this comes from within, and this empowers you to gladly accept everything, including all the wrong doings that you have done to someone else. You can blame yourself and feel guilty, but you must know that your mistakes are your wrongdoings. Such mistakes and failures make you stronger, only if you take the risk of accepting that you did something terrible.
Difficult Conversations
As a keen observer, I often see people sugar-coating difficult conversations and deem it as being kind. Some people think that being kind to someone at the time, means that it will be reciprocated in terms of a transactional expectation. Is expecting things back kindness?
The Kindness Drivers
I wonder if they realize it. It wouldn’t be kind if it were about them, and not about the other person. Suppose they are always thinking of being good or soft-spoken with a view that the other person might be of help in the future. Or, they are being good to someone because they need something from the person, may be in the short term. That is not countable as kindness. I feel that the thought behind a kind deed should be the welfare of others.
You never notice that there might be a change agent, not kind but honest, who might be willing to risk a lot only to see some changes for all or in a community. All these change agents wish to see a difference. A good change. So, they take risks to see betterment for all. This also means that they realize that there is a chance and a high chance to be real and that the benefits will be reaped by others at their cost. However, they see a wider scope in the context of welfare. Now that something is right. Oddly enough, I believe these agents are secure enough to take a path less travelled and travel past as a victor. In their eyes, they have already won, with support, or without support.
Honesty: One of a kind
Some would say honesty is the best policy, and others would say being kind means being kind to yourself first. This should also mean that anybody who is being honest is also honest to themselves. I also see that these people are often left in silos. They are hard on themselves. Life taught them a lesson – something happened that took their faith, and they quickly decided to switch lanes.
Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.
Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
Somehow, being rude replaces being honest. Imagine how harshly they must be judging their own behavior. It simply implies that you are not honest with yourself, causing a lack of confidence that induces more significant mistakes.
Reflection Time: No Pain, No Gain
So, I request you, readers, to ask yourself.
Are you scared of being honest?
Are you scared of taking risks?
All in all, if you are being kind, you are taking a risk. On a related note, if you are being honest, you are taking risk. It doesn’t matter which aspect or which quality we talk about. The main point here, which I am trying to make, is that there is always a risk.
The biggest risk a person can take is to do nothing.
Robert Kiyosaki
Shades of Risk
Some people take risks for being liked by others, while others may seek emotional warmth. People risk their integrity, money and financial stability. Some people go as far as to put their emotional or mental stability at risk. All in all, we are always taking risks depending on when we are comfortable to afford taking one.
I have also observed that people who are willing to grow and are willing to explore the darkness of life, the darkness of their ideas, and the darkness in their minds take more risks. This happens irrespective of the background of the person, their experiences, or the type of childhood that they may have had.
Ultimately, everyone has one thing or another from which they have to break free. Again, it’s a risk to be told about your flaws, or to discover your flaws or pet peeves on your own. It’s a risk to accept, and it is also a risk to not accept it.
If you risk nothing you gain nothing.
Bear Grylls
About The Author
Shimona Shriya is currently pursuing PhD from IIM Bodh Gaya. She has almost three and a half years of corporate experience. She graduated from BIT, Mesra in 2016.
Shimona likes to express her thoughts in written form for further exploration of “Who she really is”. Words are an inexhaustible source of magic to her. She strongly believes in building resilience and attitude of gratitude.
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