The development of one’s personality, done in the right manner, is a challenging and rewarding task for every individual, particularly for the energetic youth who can gain much from it. It is challenging in that it demands hard, methodical labour, perseverance, and careful attention. And it is rewarding since no effort in this direction goes in vain. In fact, every effort brings success and satisfaction proportionate to the attempt. Moreover, it is every person’s duty to work towards it, since personality development is necessary for success in any field.
This blog included an illuminating introduction. I now have great pleasure in presenting this blog hoping that the readers, particularly the younger generation, will be greatly benefited in their efforts towards personality development.
ACCORDING TO THE Cambridge International Dictionary of English, ‘your personality is the type of person you are, which is shown by the way you behave, feel and think.’ Personality, according to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, is the ’whole nature or character of a person.’
How a person behaves, feels and thinks, how he conducts himself in a given set of circumstances is largely determined by the state of his mind. Mere external appearance or a person’s speech or mannerisms are only fringes of one’s personality. They do not reflect the real personality. Personality development in the real sense refers to deeper levels of a person. So a study of our personality should start from a clear grasp of the nature of our mind, and how it functions.
Necessity to know our mind :
We intend to do many things—make resolutions to cultivate good habits, to kick certain bad habits, to study with concentration, to do something with a concentrated mind. Very often our mind rebels, forcing us to beat a retreat from our efforts at implementing our resolutions. A book is open before us, and our eyes are open. But the mind has started wandering, thinking about some past events or some future plans. The same thing happens when we sit for a few minutes trying to pray or think of a divine name or form. Says Swami Vivekananda: ’Free! We who cannot for a moment govern our own minds, nay, cannot hold our minds on a subject, focus it on a point to the exclusion of everything else for a moment! Yet we call ourselves free. Think of it!
According to the Bhagavad Gita, the undisciplined mind acts as our enemy, whereas a trained mind acts as our friend. So we need to have a clear idea of the mechanism of our mind. Can we train it to obey us, to cooperate with us? How can it contribute to the development of our personality?
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