Success vs. Joy
- LVII -
The Lure of Fame
Which youngster does not wish to be famous? Which child does not want to hold a cricket bat in his hand and dream of becoming captain of the Indian cricket team?
“I want my face on every hoarding across the country,” he says to himself. “I want girls running after me. I want companies standing outside my door wanting to sign me for multi-crore endorsements. I want to sign 100 autographs every day and be on the cover of every magazine in the country. Oh, I want to be famous and then I’ll be happy.”
Is the act of signing a hundred autographs a day going to give you happiness? Is an advertisement featuring you that is being aired continuously going to make you happy? Will your happiness be ensured if everybody knows your name?
If I were to ask India’s two most famous batsmen, Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar what really gives them happiness, in all likelihood the answer would be, “finding the sweet spot on the bat.”
So happiness is derived from action. Fame and happiness are not directly related. Consistency of action will lead to success and happiness.
Fame is nothing more than an experience created by society and media, who collectively decide to take one activity and make it the focus of their attention. You have to realize that fame is temporary, maybe even an illusion.