All World
Gayatri Pariwar

   Youth must have a strong willpower because only the possession this attribute justifies a meaningful definition of the youth. Willpower is spiritual energy. It is the miraculous divine power that sprouts forth in the personality from within. It has the potency to transform the life and work wonders. It is the superpower that converts the seemingly impossible into possible. If it is activated at young age, no dream can remain unrealized, no goal unattained.

Many people, under a misconception, confuse willpower with obstinacy and inflexibility, which it is not at all. Will power is a fusion of the inner strength, steadfastness and concentration. When all the powers of the internal self coalesce and condense to the highest degree of intensity the personality begins to feel the pulsation of willpower.

In the absence of willpower the young minds tend to wander hither and thither. They think a lot but are unable to do anything concrete. Their minds are full of dreams but the actual planning for the execution of those dreams remains beyond their capacity. A peculiar air of casualness, indecision, hesitation and confusion marks their attitude. Persons with weak willpower are not diligent in any work. They get disappointed and disheartened very soon. They accept defeat without putting up much of a fight. It is just not in their temperament to struggle till the last breath for a great cause and even efface their selves in this endeavor. That is why disappointments and failures are their frequent companions.

Those who are undergoing such experiences should objectively analyze their situation.  Once they have correctly assessed themselves, efforts can be made to awaken and strengthen the willpower lying dormant within them. The first step in this direction is positive thinking. “I can do this; nothing is beyond me” and such other resolves should mark one’s attitude. A full faith in one’s capability should grow inside. Those who develop the strength to remain optimistic even in adverse situations will be rewarded with rapid growth of willpower. Those who are making efforts in this direction should not give importance to or entertain such thoughts as are detrimental to their positive line of thinking. Even if a doubt or confusion arises in their mind they should consciously discard it, as such negative impulses fritter away and weaken mental energy.

The young persons who can put a check on this wastage of energy can very easily develop their willpower and utilize it in fruitful ventures. Two anecdotes in this connection from the lives of Anirudha Singh and Dr Bharti may be recounted.

Most of us have read or heard the story of Ratnakar dacoit’s transformation into Maharishi Valmiki. It is said that Ratnakar, guided and enlightened by Devarshi Narda, gave up the work of robbing people, devoted himself to ‘tapa’ and in due course composed the Ramayan as the Purnahuti (culmination) of this solemn resolve. One might be tempted to think that such miracles of willpower belong only to a bygone era, but Anirudha Singh has proved that it is possible even today to effect such a complete transformation in life.

Anirudha Singh is a resident of village Rajkhanda under Aurai block of Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district. In yesteryears he was a leader of Motihari Diwan Khan ‘Sultan’ gang. This was a feared name among the people of this district. It was not easy to get out of this morass of robbery business. But a true resolve does not get bogged down in the whirl of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’. With this positive thought Anirudha Singh decided to become a teacher. From dacoit to teacher - it was an awesome changeover. But with steely determination, Anirudha Singh did it! In 1987 he started tutoring poor children in a shed at the Bhairav temple of Rajkhand village. When the number of children increased he formally opened a school in that very shed. His school is yet to have basic facilities but the children studying there and their guardians do have a sense of satisfaction and hope for the future. More than a hundred students receive education there in different shifts. Anirudha Singh says – “We may not have the facilities, but we certainly have strong resolve. I want to see happening in these children the very same miracle that happened in my life. It will surely come some day. These poor children too would one day be Abdul Kalam and Kiran Bedi. If I am able to help this happen I would think that I have undergone penance for my past sins”.

The same firm belief in the potential of willpower can be seen in Dr. Bharti. A resident of Agra, Dr. Bharti is India’s only physically handicapped woman neurophysician. In childhood a paralytic attack immobilized her right hand and the right side of her face. But this brave and resolute woman never allowed her physical incapacitation to dominate over her mind. Right from the stage of early education to her medical degree she consistently remained at the top. She cleared the medical entrance test in first attempt. During MBBS study she was awarded gold medal in biochemistry and pharmacology. In MD too she was gold medalist. Today, at 40, when asked how she felt now having achieved so much she replied with enthusiasm – “We will talk about the summit when we reach there; for the present we have to carve out a path through the rocky terrain. We have to start a caravan. We have to build a Garden of Eden amidst terrestrial abodes.” A competent and specialist neurophysian, Dr. Bharti is a good painter too. Whenever she gets time off from tending to her patients she picks up a brush to relax. Before becoming a doctor, she had to her credit many solo exhibitions of her paintings. Another hobby of Dr. Bharti is writing poems. Her compositions have mesmeric effect that spontaneously goes to people’s hearts.

If the willpower is developed many doors start opening, many possibilities begins to take concrete shape. Be it the young physician Dr. Bharti or the dacoit-turned-teacher Aniruddha Singh, both have achieved miracles with the power of their strong resolves. Whatever they did can be replicated by other young men and women too. Those who want to experience this truth must always keep repeating to themselves that till the last breath of life defeat is not to be accepted, nor struggle given up. Body, mind and soul and all the powers contained therein have to be marshaled with single-minded devotion towards the pursuit of the right goal. Combination of will power and ceaseless striving is the potent chemical process that can turn every youth into Maharishi Dadhichi. Their bones too can be transformed into Vajra (Lord Indra’s weapon) which will vanquish every kind of demonic and diversionary tendency.
The youth treading the path - struggle for the goal and creation through struggle – should keep in mind that besides chiseling their own selves they have to assist in sculpting others too.

Our thoughts hold the power to build, bend or break our circumstances.