This I believe – Connections

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I believe in the power of connections, in the connections that people make when they meet others and how they grow and evolve together. “You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with”. This quote by Jim Rohn is a perfect example of how the connections that people make can have a large effect on them as a person.

When I was younger I did not have many close interactions with others, which I had believed had no effect on me at all, until I eventually thought that it was not necessary at all. I had fully believed in the way of thinking I made for myself;it wasn’t until I started to review myself much later that I realized the effect that way of thinking had on me. I would barely interact with classmates outside of anything related to school and I was fine with that.

 

It was in this isolationism that I had made for myself that I had begun to change silently. It was a change that I realized after a long period of time and when I had made this discovery it didn’t have much effect on me. In fact, I was completely fine with the way things were. It was quiet, I had all the time to myself, I wasn’t stressed about others, and to me it was a sereine landscape of isolationism that I couldn’t take my eyes off of.

 

Then one day I met someone that began to destroy this way of tranquil isolation of mine. I found him very annoying, when he first came he would start a conversation with me out of the blue, silently notice the things I do and the habits I had (which I thought was creepy), and this went on for such a long time that I started to not mind. The damage he would do to my bubble that I created started having less of a jarring impact. I was no longer annoyed every time  he came to talk to me and I would actually begin to expect it; become excited as if I had wanted it.

 

At the same time I was scared as well. I was horrified at what was happening as this new entity made its way to my life. I was wary of it at first. I thought to myself “why am I feeling this way” and “why was that annoying person trying so hard”. As time passed by I slowly began to figure out what was happening. This “intruder” has made his way into my peaceful  existence and I was happy that somebody who I never met was willing to do so. I was fine by myself , but when someone actually came to me it introduced me to a whole new perspective that I’ve never seen before.

 

Then (to my shock as was his) without realizing how it happend I would be the one who started the conversation with him. I would notice what he did and would actually find it interesting. It was only when I stopped for a moment and looked back that I realized that I had changed. I had looked away from my landscape and discovered that there was so much more for me to experience for myself. It was with the interaction that my friend had made with me caused me to change the belief I’ve lived by for so long. I was with this that I had started to go out of my way and try doing what he did for me.

 

I would make connections with people I would barely know, get to know them, rely on them, trust in them, and grow with them. It terrified me, the thought that it was all pointless, that everything that happened would mean nothing. 

 

I failed sometimes and sometimes the relationship worked out because it was with these failures that I could grow and and learn what it meant to have a connection. The phrase “people need people” I did not understand what that truly meant until the person who never even heard of me walked up and said hello.

 

The power of connection is what brings people together; to know each other and it is what allows them to grow into a better person than they would have ever had alone. The best quality about connections is not that it has two sides that are affected by it. Its best quality is its capability to help people to grow into so much more than what they were when it started.

 

Refrences:

https://www.businessinsider.com/jim-rohn-youre-the-average-of-the-five-people-you-spend-the-most-time-with-2012-7

https://www.dreamstime.com/vector-graphic-group-connection-logo-eight-people-circle-vector-graphic-group-connection-logo-eight-people-circle-image119959702

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3 thoughts on “This I believe – Connections

  1. Dear Harsh,

    After staring at the colorful image of the people in a circle for a decent amount of time, I now realize that they are forming a flower. Woahh.

    Aesthetics aside, I was intrigued as to what your “This I Believe” would turn out to be like, as you are a pretty quiet and reserved guy who I do not know very well. Your quote, “You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with” does indeed describe the importance and power of connections. I enjoyed reading your journey and process of becoming more inclined to talk with this “annoying” guy; it was like I was watching you grow as a person as you gradually included him into your life. The comparison of your isolation to a serene landscape and your transition away from it was a beautiful metaphor; it sort of painted an image in my brain of a pink sunset with an island and a sparkling sea. I too sometimes struggle with making connections, so it was reassuring that I was not alone.

    For improvements, I think a bit of proofreading would prevent your minor spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes. These did not take away from the overall experience of the piece, which is good. Personally, I would like to see more expansion on your connections now .

    It was nice to read your statement, and I hope to read more of your future work (and perhaps annoy you.)

    Sincerely,
    Tiffany (•ө•)♡

    1. Dear Tiffany and Sidd,

      Firstly, I want to say thank you for your reading my blog and to critique it. At first when I was writing this piece I was nervous and your comment gave me a lot to think about. When I thought about submitting it I knew that I had to do it, so I just hit send and then walked away. Your comment made me less nervous so thank you for that. I likewise I could also relate with your story and I know that you will only improve by leaps and bound in the near future.

      Tiffany, your comment made me so enthusiastic and gave me so much confidence. I’m glad that you were able to relate to it (as I’m sure we all felt this way at some point). That was one of my goals that I was working towards, to make the reader realize the effect that connection have on them. I’m glad you could feel some level of relating to the experience. Sidd, thank you for your comment. I was worried that the metaphors I created would be lost but your comment gave me confidence. During the process of writing I came up with a lot of things and realized that they wouldn’t make sense to a general audience. So thank you for comment and analysis.

      Your comment made me quite a bit to think about and I thank you for that. I now realize the grammatical errors and will work toward making less to them. It was only after I read other people stories that I could realize the difference in text flow and I will this as a reference for future reference. I will take your advice and put them in future writing.

      I would like to thank you one again for your comments and for reading my piece. the advice from two people with different writing style provided me with some insight which I will take to heart. I’ve read both your pieces and I know that both of you will greatly improve. So let us all improve together as I writing style changes and evolves in the future.

      Sincerely,
      Harsh

  2. Dear Harsh,

    Your ‘This I Believe’ was very interesting and I enjoyed reading it. The quote you chose goes very well with your belief and the idea of it and the thoughts that surround it in my opinion. It was very entertaining to read about this friend of yours and how he managed to change your entire life and the way you think and perceive certain things. Your choice of metaphors in your writing was a good idea as it really got the point through and helped describe everything on your eyes. Which I thought was insightful.

    For suggestions on improvements, I agree with Tiffany about proofreading as I managed to point out some grammar mistakes. I also suggest making the text flow better and compliment each other better as some parts of the writing were worded a little poorly.

    Reading your story about your friend and the type of person he is was very entertaining and the overall meaning of the story and your belief are very relevant for today’s society as I feel we focus more on gaining a wide following of people and other things such as academics so much that we tend to forget about how much of an impact people actually have on us and our personas. And as for this friend, is it by any chance Armaan?

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