A young man had a great desire to cross the ocean and see the far and distant lands that lay beyond it. In order to fulfill this desire, he set about building the vessel which was to take him across. He spent days learning the art of sailing. And then one fine sunny day, when he felt he had learnt enough, he set sail. All went well for a while. Till one day, our young sailor ran into a terrible storm. His vessel was smashed against rocks. It gave way and began to go down. With no resort left, the young man jumped into the sea. To his horror he realised, with all his preparations—he hadn’t learnt to swim.

Like this young man, many of us learn a world of things. But, forget to learn “life-skills” that take us across troubles, failures, sufferings and setbacks. We all desire to be admired; to be loved; to excel in whatever we do. But we seldom realise that the means to these goals lie within us. The miracle of investing in our own ‘self’ is that it acts like a dream insurance policy. It saves us in times of trouble. It also uplifts the very level at which we operate. It is of course easy to see the importance of acquiring material success. We must live, and in order to live we must earn. The desire for affluence too is natural in a world where happiness is defined as possessing the right things. Any skill that brings these possessions is welcome. At this juncture, need for ‘Self Development’ seems unnecessary. Till, we are forced to face the difficulties of life. Then college degrees, wealth and possessions fail us. And the only resource we can depend upon is ‘ourselves’.

So, why not understand the ‘Self’? Who am I? What are my possibilities? What is my potential? How do I develop myself?