Stories that talk about going from Rags to Riches do not impact me at all. These shouldn’t impact you a lot either.

These are two bold statements that I have made. I am only stating raw facts and here’s why you shouldn’t get carried away into this emotional media sham.

Let’s start with my own story.

My Dad failed in three different businesses. He had to sell his car to pay our school fees. My mom, still working as a teacher, continued work to run the house. I don’t remember my mom prepping me for school because she had to rush to hers. Several times the school management knocked on our door asking for fees. My dad on the other hand, had to purchase a cycle to sell pan masala, street to street to earn some extra cash as I was not well. Later on, when things got a bit better, he purchased a second-hand scooter. All 4 of us used to ride on it together, despite being mocked at. 

Having said that, I’ve never spoken about it on social media. Why is that? Because I had things that still placed me in the middle-class section of the society. I had a roof over my head. My meals were cooked in Desi Ghee. During summers, I slept under a cooler. We had a geyser and enough clothes to keep us warm during winters. My dad gave me 15k per month during my college. I could have compared this with someone getting 70k per month and easily sold my misery online.

For all my petty milestones, I could have shoved these stories into your mind. All of your attention would validate my struggle and turn me into a narcissist. But I didn’t because my parents managed to give me what they could, their parents, the same, and now I am managing what I can. Tomorrow if you find your child talking about how his father didn’t provide him with enough, and bragging about his current success, you will be shattered. That’s how your parents feel when you sell your misery unnecessary over social media. They did what they had to. They made some choices, some wrong, and someright. They welcomed you into this world at the age, where this generation isn’t even married. Stop selling their foolishness or hard work for your social media likes. Stop validating their struggles for your own sake.

Struggles are a part of life. No matter how many privileges you are born into, the only way to get past life with respect is to keep working hard. 

Speaking of which, do you think the Ambanis’ have it easy? Aren’t they working hard as well? If you had to take the seat of Ambani’s kid and run his business, on the very first day, you’d have a nervous breakdown. You only see the grass to be greener on the other side, but you haven’t seen how well the grass has been watered over the years, to look that way.

People choose their hard work according to their wants. We still choose to play games, chill for an hour while drinking tea because that’s what we want. We know we can work in those hours and make some extra bucks but we choose not to because somewhere, we all have different definitions of success and we are content.

We all want to be successful, and once we get there, we start searching for miseries in our own lives. This then escalates to openly talking about these miseries with others. Someone once told me, “4 of us used to sleep in a single room” but they forgot that there is someone out there who cannot even afford a room. Do you know why we do this, inevitably? Because it sells. People love reciting and reading these emotional shamsbecause it stimulates our brains the most. It gives us more pleasure than anything else, subconsciously. That’s why reality TV and internet shows hosted by people like VarunPruthi boom! They have so much emotion in them. People areeither selling their past misery or using someone else’s for likes and validation on social media. 

On the other hand, I am not disrespecting the people who come from hardships and struggles. I am writing this to stop you from indulging in this mental masturbation throughemotional stories. People only want to sell you their stories for their own benefit. In the end, we all go home, some with these stories and a lot of money and the others with senseless hope.

Here is where you need to learn to tell the difference between real and fake. In your journey, you will rarely find people who are silent about their success and even more about their hardships and struggle. These are the people you should befriend. Stick with them because they will take life as it comes, with a pinch of salt. They understand it is all a game, where you make wrong and some good choices. There is no winning or losing here. All you need to do is put your best foot forward without dwelling on your own misery or someone else’s.