Excellence is a difficult word. The difficulty is not because of the linguistic affiliation of the word but due to the efforts that goes into defining that word. There are different word combinations that goes along with the word excellence - pursuit of excellence, trying for excellence, how to excel - the list goes on. Excellence in one way is to become superior in something. The act of becoming superior is not an easy one. Excellence is hard to achieve. It requires time, energy and efforts. Excellence is also a state of mind. The mind is restless, always thinking about new ways through which it can seek some freshness in life. A mind seeking excellence will perpetually exist in the Ulyssesian mind frame, which is defined by these words - To strive, To seek and not to yield.
In my life I have always respected this concept. I have seen people around me who have achieved excellence. These people were practitioners of excellence. They had their role models around them and they constantly drew energy from them. Some examples are movie directors, authors, and even ordinary people whom I met on the streets. I have always felt the positive and energetic energy levels from these people. There are too many both ordinary and extraordinary who fills me up with a sense of excellence. I think it is always good to orient our mind to those people who stay positive and who celebrate creativity. There are also others who fall into two categories listed below
0. Self-centered beings - These groups always does things for the sake of doing. I like to quote the lovely and meaningful lines from Ted Hughes's poem Thrushes to explain these type which goes like this 'Their acts worship itself'. They lack innovativeness and the enterprising spirit.
1. Negativity is thy name - The second category wallow in their own negative world. The world is not a self-created one. It is rather imposed on them because they never tried to create a world of their own.
Technology to a certain extent helps me to stay in the sphere of excellence. I update myself with the latest news from the world of technology and by divine grace today possesses two gadgets, which can be seen as the tipping point of the world of technology - iPhone and iPad. Technology to me means Internet and this leads me to audio and video podcasts, downloading audio books, ePub and PDF books, apps that are interesting and informative. I also use iPod to listen to music and play station to play games.
Reading helps me to build confidence in terms of word power and sentence structure.
Indirectly it helps me to feel more confident when I write. I make it a point that I read at least a few pages before hitting the sack. I have to admit that these days my reading is slow compared to earlier days. Anyhow, reading is something, which gives me the necessary courage to face the world using words.
Following excellence is not easy. One should have the courage to rise above the ordinary and the mundane. One should also have the courage to look beyond the mediocre and turn one's attention to extraordinary things. In a way one should always compare oneself with others and measure the difference. Instead of feeling happy about the positive/ good qualities that you already have it is good to move on. It is better to identify the areas of interest and polish them periodically. That's the only way one can master the art of excellence.
