Imitate wisely

Man is imitative by nature. It is a primal instinct of man to act as others do. Just as children pick up the parents traits, manner of speaking and even the mannerisms, we begin to pick up the traits of others. The familiar you become with others, the more likely you pick up their qualities, phrases and even actions. You may not have the intention to imitate but unconsciously you may tend to do so if you hang around with others for too long. That is why it is very important to choose your friends wisely. If the others are successful you should certainly try to follow them. There is nothing wrong with it. There is specialness in every person with some unique gifts. They can serve as role model for their good qualities. If they are losers with negative attitudes, you should keep away lest you assimilate those qualities.

Parents are particular that their children have good company in the school. It is also for instilling the right values, stories of great men and women are narrated to us by our mothers. Example is potent in its influence and the way the parents set an example determines the characteristics of children. The key to success in life would therefore be to choose your friends wisely and surround yourself with capable people of good character, from whom you can learn. A good way to learn from great men would be to read their biographies to know how they lived their life and how they overcame their problems. You should choose some of these great people to be your role models, to imitate them, to inspire yourself from them.

Young people learn through apprenticeships and may appear to be just copying the master. A young boy learning music from his guru will follow him strictly till he acquires certain professional competency. Once he has learnt his craft, he should be original and not imitate his guru. If he does not employ new ideas and strike his own unique path, he will become a failure. Routine imitation is unauthentic, erodes ability to be creative and does not serve either the disciple or the guru. Though the tendency to imitate is inborn, blind imitation can be avoided only by conscious effort and will..“Imitation, if noble and general, insures the best hope of originality”