How do you feel when you're in the limelight of fame? If you had asked me that twenty years ago, I would have said that it was a motivating factor and jumped at the chance of coming out in the limelight if there was an accomplishment I was proud to highlight.
Now, all I want to do is to hide away. To seek quiet redress and just be, as I have experienced the negative effects of being in the limelight for all the wrong reasons.
What is being in the limelight all about? Limelight in a positive context makes you an accomplished person, good enough to be an example to others. So people emulate your ways and you serve their purpose as a mentor.
When you are in the limelight of fame, you experience a wide range of emotions, from pleasure to pain to fear, from the sadness of accepting failure to the exhilaration of being a success.
Being in the limelight can be a source of joy, satisfaction, and validation, as you are recognized and celebrated for your achievements. You may feel proud of yourself and your accomplishments, and enjoy the attention and admiration you receive from others.
On the other hand, being in the limelight can also be a source of anxiety, stress, and self-doubt, as you are under tremendous pressure to perform and meet the expectations of others. You may feel overwhelmed by the attention and scrutiny, and worry about making mistakes or disappointing your fans, for instance. It's hard to be in the limelight of scrutiny once you reach your highest level of achievement.
How do you handle being in the limelight without letting it affect you negatively? You can do this by focusing on your strengths and passions, and developing a sense of purpose and meaning in your work. You can also cultivate resilience, self-compassion, and self-care, and seek support from your loved ones and peers.
By doing that, you can learn to embrace the limelight as an opportunity for growth, learning, and fulfillment, rather than a source of fear or anxiety.
Here's to the limelight of success and fame for all those deserving.
-shobana-
Free Books to Read by Shobana
I finally completed the story. Please let me know what you think. Read about Coralia's love and the magical island of Langkawi's legendary Mahsuri.
Here's the book everyone is talking about, The Wealth Money Can't Buy by my friend Robin Sharma. A certain portion of the proceeds go to children with leprosy.
Did we ever envisage astronauts flying to the moon? And yet, here we are watching them create history by travelling the galaxies.
At sixteen, I remember the excitement of going to India to pursue my tertiary education. I wanted to be a dentist and started my pre-university studies at the All Saints College in Trivandrum. I loved the college and the friends I made were from all over the world.
Those were the best days of my life. Unfortunately, things took a different turn, and one day my guardians there, an aunt and an uncle received a phone call from the matron of the hostel and was told that I was ill and advised them to take me to see the doctor.
The nuns who ran the hostel noticed that I had grown thinner and wasn't as bubbly as I was when I entered the college. For months I hid the fact that I was ill and unable to eat and missed my meals many times over. I never missed classes though, and no matter how bad I felt, I made sure I attended them. And, even then, the French Language was the second language I chose as a subject. It's funny but I always felt there was a deep connection between me and the language. I thought it was the most romantic language in the world. Years later, I worked for a French company here in Malaysia, and the company required me to study the language as their correspondences were in French and I studied the language at a local institute.
Anyway, the doctor advised that the place was not suitable for me. There was a chemical factory nearby and I was allergic to the fumes there.
I left India broken-hearted that I hadn't accomplished what I had set out to do.
I joined a bank and within a couple of years saved enough money to buy a house and a car. I was proud of the fact that I could do that for my parents. They were so deserving of that kind of love from me for the sacrifices they made to send me to India.
I was determined to succeed in any venture that I undertook.
Years later, after all the hard work and finding the right path to peace and fulfilment, I realized that my calling was in writing. I now feel the accomplishment of being a writer and it is a great feeling to have that eloquence and mindfulness to write and inspire.
In school, I excelled in my comprehension and English studies, and that augured well for me in this passion. I had the confidence I needed to write, took up writing courses and earned a Global Teaching Certificate in the process.
Some dreams are meant to be broken for one to find their right calling, and my life has been a testament to that fact.
Nothing is impossible if you find your calling and set your heart and mind to accomplish it.
In the U.S., the path of totality begins in Texas and will travel through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Small parts of Tennessee and Michigan will also experience the total solar eclipse, according to NASA.
What is the path of totality?
The track of the moon's shadow across Earth's surface is called the path of totality, and to witness the April 8 total solar eclipse, viewers must be within the 115-mile-wide path.
Make sure you wear the right shades!
National Poetry Month: On Love & Life.
It's poetry month and I'd like to share this with you.