8/7/2019 Karan's essay

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“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.

Watch your words, for they become actions.

Watch your actions, for they become habits.

Watch your habits, for they become character.

Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

It has been rightly said, an individual’s destiny is decided by his or her character. It is

this character of that individual that protects his life. Protecting life does not mean the

mere existence but it means living life in a way that you are remembered for and

sleeping at night with a content and satisfied mind. This can be possible only if one

has a strong character and moral values. One needs to realise that weapons, money

and other materialistic things are not necessary to survive, but it’s your character 

that’ll take you ahead in life. Great men like Abraham Lincoln and Mother Teresa

were driven by an inward need to make things right—possessed with a rock-solid

character formed from solid values.

Contrary to them are people who give high regard to dishonesty and would do

anything to achieve success in life. They measure their success not by their own

integrity, but by how much money they make. However, this is an imperfect yardstick 

at best and not at all a determining factor of just how successful your life is.

True success is determined by not how much money you make, but how you make it

and how you live your life. Character and integrity are key ingredients for a

successful life. No matter how rich you are, if you lack character, you have nothing.

What is character? It means that you operate from a base of integrity, which means

that you operate within your moral code, even when no one is watching you or thereto reward you. It means that fear and guilt are temporary and occasional visitors to

your life who simply appear to help you make amends when necessary but don't stay

long. It means that you have nothing to hide, which in turn gives you the freedom to

achieve success to its fullest.

Many people with talent make it into the limelight, but the ones who have neglected

to develop strong character rarely stay there long. Absence of strong character 

eventually reduces the importance of talent because people cannot climb beyond the

limitations of their character. Talented people are sometimes tempted to take

shortcuts. Character prevents that. Talented people may feel superior and expect

special privileges. Character helps them to know better. Talented people are praisedfor what others see them build. Character builds what’s inside them. Talented people

have the potential to be difference makers. Character makes a difference in them.

Talented people are often a gift to the world. Character protects that gift.

People are like icebergs. There’s much more to them than meets the eye. When you

look at an iceberg only 15% is visible to us that is our talent. The rest is hidden, below

the surface and that is our character. It’s what they think and never share with others.

It’s what they do when no one is watching them. It’s how they handle failure—and

success. In order to be a talented person one has to have a rigid base of a strong

character.

8/7/2019 Karan's essay

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Personality is like a shadow and character like a tree. Character is built by honesty.

You can open doors through your charm once but to be welcome always, you need to

have a strong character. A tree is strong but not by the size of its trunk and branches,

 but by the depth and strength of its roots. So just like trees, we humans can not be

strong just by the sheer size of our body or our beauty but we can be strong only if we

have a strong character.

To explain this I quote the example of the Father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi. He

was a person who had no muscles; no communication and he wore no shields or 

carried no guards but drove the Britishers out of our country just by the sheer strength

of his strong character. A good and strong character protects us. It protects us from

fear and the absence of fear is courage. I gave the example of how a tree is strong due

to its deep roots but these roots do not develop overnight. A lot of care, watering and

sunlight are required for the growth of this tree. Similarly, to build a strong character 

we require patience. We have to walk on the path of honesty. It is very difficult to be

honest in this present corrupt times but a strong character helps us and protects us

from doing anything wrong.

Helen Keller said character cannot be developed in ease. Only through experience of 

trial and suffering can the soul be strengthen, ambition inspired and success achieved.

Character is the sum and substance of life. If we observe all the greatest endeavours

carried out in this world, we find that character is the sole-driving force, without

which everything is worthless.

Even in our ancient epochs such as Ramayana and Mahabharata, great characters-

Lord Rama and the Pandavas had gone through many ups and downs in their lives.

They ultimately won the battles of their lives only because of their strong character 

and faith in goodness and honesty. Thus we can see character forms the foundation of 

every new achievement, every new discovery and every new victory. A person with a

strong character may face failures in life but does not lose his heart in despair. He

knows that the obstacles that are coming in his way are only temporary and he will

ultimately be successful in achieving his goal.

In the end I would like to conclude by quoting, “Character is the pedestal that

determines how much weight a person can sustain. If your character is the size of- a

tooth pick, you can only sustain a postage stamp. If your character is as thick as a

column, you can sustain a roof.”