Want versus Need

                                            Abhinav Bindra, India’s 10 m Air Rifle Champion

-          2000 Sydney Olympics: Lost in qualifying. Ended eleventh.

-          2004 Athens Olympics: Scored 597 in qualifying (599- Olympic record). Ended seventh.

-          2008 Beijing Olympics: Gold Medal. India’s first individual gold medal in Olympics.

-          2012 London Olympics: Lost in qualifying. Ended sixteenth.

“In my mind I had a medal in 2004, but I didn’t have anything to show for it. I went back with a vengeance (to Beijing in 2008): I wanted to show I could do it. I was desperate.

“In London (2012 Olympics), I was relaxed, composed and calm. Theoretically it should have worked well. But it doesn’t work that way. You have to have rage. You have to be desperate. A part of your mind will be anxious, fearful….

“In Beijing I needed it. In London I wanted it. There is a difference. ….But that’s the difference between going a little bit further.”

It’s truly commendable how everything changes when the desires change from a backdrop of want to need and vice versa. Consider a scenario when you participate in a running race and another when you are being chased by a predator. In which case will the timing be faster? Given a task to two individuals with similar skill set, one of them rich and well-settled and another poor and hungry since days, who will win the loaf of bread as the prize? And when do you perform your best – when you already have something worthwhile in hand or when you have nothing?

So, is desperation good? Is the fear of losing an extremely vital- if not essential, entity towards the path of success? Or it’s always a calm mind that makes sensible decisions that lead one towards the ultimate goal? Or is it situational? And on what basis?

I leave the questions open to all. Your inputs are most welcome. Till then, enjoy my favorite scene from the 2012 movie, The Dark Knight Rises.