Our Daily Consolation Prize
In many of the competitions, be it sports, cultural etc, there are mostly 3 categories of prizes-1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Is there any more? Yes, many a times, there is a consolation prize also. It is for those whose performance was not among the best but was not bad either. It is a type of motivation to someone who couldn't win but had all the qualities to be a winner.
Why I began with this simple observation? Coming to the point, we all are regular users of social media apps like Whatsapp, Instagram etc. I never fail to check messages on my Whatsapp. Most of us start our day by sending and reading "Good Morning" messages. Most of these messages are motivational types which carry the idea of "Think Good, Do Good", "You Can Do It." If you are a regular Whatsapp user, you might be receiving 5-10 such messages daily. Sometimes we forward the messages to others also.
These lovely, inspirational messages adorn the gallery of your handset. You read the message, was impressed and forwarded it to your contacts and waited for "Thumbs Up". Most of these messages are forgotten later. What difference did it bring then to our life?
I believe there is a psychological reaction behind it. We know (read "believe") that it is not easy to apply the message given in these messages in our daily lives since we find it more comfortable to live the way we are living and find it hard to live a disciplined life. But we never fail to share such messages with others. We "console" ourselves that at least we can spread the good message in the world if not apply in our life. In other words, we give ourselves a "Consolation prize" by simply spreading the good words.
Anyways, it is not bad either. If we cannot become a "torchbearer" then at least we can become "message-bearer." :-)
Why I began with this simple observation? Coming to the point, we all are regular users of social media apps like Whatsapp, Instagram etc. I never fail to check messages on my Whatsapp. Most of us start our day by sending and reading "Good Morning" messages. Most of these messages are motivational types which carry the idea of "Think Good, Do Good", "You Can Do It." If you are a regular Whatsapp user, you might be receiving 5-10 such messages daily. Sometimes we forward the messages to others also.
These lovely, inspirational messages adorn the gallery of your handset. You read the message, was impressed and forwarded it to your contacts and waited for "Thumbs Up". Most of these messages are forgotten later. What difference did it bring then to our life?
I believe there is a psychological reaction behind it. We know (read "believe") that it is not easy to apply the message given in these messages in our daily lives since we find it more comfortable to live the way we are living and find it hard to live a disciplined life. But we never fail to share such messages with others. We "console" ourselves that at least we can spread the good message in the world if not apply in our life. In other words, we give ourselves a "Consolation prize" by simply spreading the good words.
Anyways, it is not bad either. If we cannot become a "torchbearer" then at least we can become "message-bearer." :-)
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