Our Antagonists within…

On Sunday morning, we all were savoring the all-time favorite movie ‘Cinderella & the Seven Dwarfs’, when a friend asked: “You know, what makes Cinderella so beautiful and lovable?” We had no reply. He answered wittily, “The presence of the Ugly Witch!” We laughed. But his statement had a thought-provoking impact.

Question yourself: Why we say that something or someone is “good”? Think. It’s because of the comparison our mind makes with something or someone we had found it “bad”; it’s because of our awareness that each coin has two sides: head & tail. The reason we know about “day” is because we also know about “night”, right?

Just imagine, could “Harry Potter” have achieved stardom if there wouldn’t have been the antagonist “Voldemort”? I bet, you wouldn’t have loved Hollywood or Bollywood heroes if there wouldn’t have been bad guys! Well, you have to admit that these antagonists, the opposites are equally important!

As I said, the presence of an antagonist makes a book or film worth exciting. Likewise, each of us has some antagonists in our life against whom we have to stand. Well, I am not talking about any human enemy or adversary (In case you decide to wrestle and pin them onto the ground!). The real antagonist is within us. What makes us best from the rest is our ability to tackle the antagonist character inside us.

Imagine a person without antagonists. Imagine he or she is has no fears, no bad habits, no weaknesses, no flaws. Can this all-good-no-bad person be interesting and full of life? Indeed no! An antagonist is like a chill-pepper over raw salad making it savory! Our fears, bad habits, weaknesses are the antagonists brewing up challenges for us and making our life savory!-(A food for thought!) These antagonists within us provoke us to fight, to take risks, to step outside the comfort zone. Finally, when we overcome our antagonists, we smile and we shine.

Speaking elaborately, it is basically a mind’s game. The mystique organ called brain tosses the coin of head & tail. Ever wondered why some of us love a particular food, a scent or a taste or an experience but some doesn’t. The impressions imprinted on our mind whisper to us – “Hey! That’s good!” or “Hey! That ‘s bad!” – based on our past encounters. Mind you, these mind impressions may not reflect the truth and may distort your judgment and acumen.

Our antagonists (and protagonist too!) rise from these impressions. For instance, a child is brought up in a friendly, social ambience, where he or she is given ample opportunity to express and improve the soft skills. The child, when grows up, has a good grasp at communication skills. In this case, the child’s mind has formed positive impressions about soft skills and thus is able to use the skill effortlessly and effectively. This positive impression is sort of a protagonist. Now take the opposite case where a child is brought up in an isolated ambience with no growth opportunities, no human contacts and thus, lacks communication skills. The child, whose mind has formed negative impressions about it, finds it hard to communicate or express. This negative impression is, of course, an antagonist.      

But do we have to fear our antagonists? Do we have to submit to them? Well, you know the answer. Like heroes have magical swords to defeat the villains, we all have such magical swords within us. Optimistic attitude, auto-suggestion, motivation, inspiration, instinct and courage are no less than magic that can create marvels. Persistency is the mantra. The more you do a thing, the more doable it becomes! Also, there is a scenario called “Accepting your Antagonists”. There are certain weaknesses –physical or mental- or a flaw that remains with us throughout our life, outside our control. Accepting the antagonists gracefully is the only way to deal with them. Remember Helen Keller, the renowned author, political activist and lecturer who was blind and deaf. She accepted these two strong, uncontrollable antagonists and rose to become one of the greatest protagonists the world has ever seen!

As a conclusion, life will be so much better if we start finding our antagonists, not in other people, but within us and then gear up with our inherent swords to tackle them. So, are you ready to don the cap and wield the sword of a protagonist?!?