Will I Be Accepted By Them?

When you say "Yes" to others, make sure you aren't saying "No" to yourself. Well, these are some insightful words to start a blog with, but let me explain to you with a small illustration. Let's say you are invited to a lavish birthday party by your college friends and you haven't been to a party like that ever in your lifetime. You grab one of your best outfits for the party in order to impress your friends. You go there and notice something that wasn't expected at all, all of your friends are drunk and smoking and that's something which makes you feel a bit uncomfortable, but it is something you can go on with since it's their choice whether to drink or not. One of your friends offers you a drink and this is where things mess up a bit because although your inner voice is saying "NO", but you are having second thoughts. You are scared that your new friends might judge you or maybe you will not be able to fit in with them if you deny it. So you take the glass and drink it in one go. In short, you did something because you wanted to feel accepted and valued by your friends and didn't have the courage to be yourself, well that's the definition of peer pressure.

Peer pressure is something we face at every stage of our life. Remember when you used to cry for that big geometry box? Just to impress your classmates and feel accepted by them! That's where it all began. "Mishra Ji ke ladke ko dekh, har baar outperform Karta hai tujhe! Yahi Halat rhe toh kahi accept nhi Hoga, khi job nhi laegegi!", everyone remembers these lines by heart, and no doubt we have been a victim of peer pressure since our childhood because if you don't stand across a certain parameter, you won't be accepted by the world out there.

One of the biggest fears young children face today is being left out and to be accepted, they are ready to do whatever it takes. Let's just think for a moment that you did whatever it took to be accepted but hang on! Ask yourself, are you really that person or are you just pretending? Pretending might provide you with short-term happiness but you will achieve long-term happiness only by being yourself. Coping up with peer pressure is one of the biggest tasks and it's all about getting the right balance between being yourself and fitting in your group. But remember being yourself is the key to happiness and if haven't found the perfect group for yourself, just wait until you find the people who value you and for whom, your presence matters the most.

However, peer pressure has a contrary side too. It helps to develop the healthy competition, for example, a friend of mine studied w the sole aim to score more than me and due to that, he outperformed in both the board examinations! Well, I guess, if used positively and healthily, peer pressure can be a boon for you. The thing is, it's only about the perspective you hold with.

Signing Off

Parminder Singh