Is first impression really the last impression?
When I was in school, one of my teachers always used to say “first impression is the last impression”. The phrase stuck with me! Over the years, I have rendered, contemplated on, scrutinized, surveyed, validated, and invalidated this statement.
I have realized this statement is more dis-empowering than it is empowering!
Empowering in the sense, it would encourage you to take that first perfect step, create that first impeccable impression..but what if you made a mistake!
I have seen friends, colleagues, people around — fret, frown and ponder endlessly over the last mistake they made. At work, I have seen colleagues feel low, complain and fear that they would never be able to change their situation, improve their chances after they had fared badly! When asked, they remind — first impression is the last impression, the thought itself is so debilitating that it stops one from taking positive action!
However, if you look around and observe the world, you realise that the impressions are not lasting enough — like the foot prints on the sand — come another wave and sand is a clean slate! Why? Because that is the nature of life and the world.
Enemies become friends and friends become enemies, and may be friends again. People who you would have not liked in the past might become your best allies, that employee who did not perform at all at one time becomes the most appreciated one in the #organisation.
I can give you a long list of people who had umpteen failures before they actually had phenomenal successes! Thomas Edison, Vincent Van Gogh, Elvis Presley, J.K Rowling, Stephen King, Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln — to name a few!
We remember them from their last successes not their past failures! The trick is to keep believing in yourself, being in the present moment. As SGI President Daisaku Ikeda says, “Life is from this moment on”. Lets not overthink and fear. What I do in this moment will be the deciding factor about who I become in the next moment. Bring in a huge wave of belief and positive action, and remove the previous impressions to make new positive ones!
You are as good as your last good deed, people have short memories, we always have second chances! Move on — be who you want to be!