“If you want to do something big in your life, you must remember that shyness is only the mind,” she said. “If you think shy, you act shy. If you think confident you act confident. Therefore never let shyness conquer your mind.”
These are the words of ten year old by Arfa Karim Randhawa (1995-2012), a programming prodigy who was a Microsoft Certified Professional by the time she was nine years old.
Passing away this weekend, I was struck not just by her wisdom but the seeming cruelty of loosing such a remarkable human being at such a young age.
As a child we are taught to do what we’re told. Go to school, do homework, play sport and learn an instrument. Think about what we want to be or do at some distant point in the future.
In short we learn to follow the crowd and await permission to truly live our dreams and do something remarkable.
Most of us take this into adulthood where we continue to wait for permission. Arfa didn’t.
Arfa’s message is that we are whatever we believe ourselves to be. If you think shy, you’re shy. If you think you’re dumb, you’re dumb.
On the contrary, if you think confident, you’re confident. If you think you can so something, anything, you can do it. The only thing stoping you is you.
We don’t need permission. We just need believe in ourselves and do whatever it is we dream of doing.
The reason I wanted to publish this tribute to Arfa is so I’ll never forget her lesson. I’d like to think it will serve as inspiration for others too.
Inspiring story Stephen. So sad.