JEET UP and Hanuman: Are We Ready for a Higher Goal?

The invitation arrives after a good month. We have managed a small assignment well, and someone suggests taking charge of the entire programme next time. Praise makes the larger role sound like the obvious next step. Yet an important question remains: what, exactly, are we ready to carry? In our JEET UP reflection at Ishta Mel, we turn to Hanuman for courage joined with discernment. Raising a goal deserves enthusiasm, but it also deserves a clear look at the ground beneath our feet.

The pull of the next level

A higher target can give our effort direction. A learner who can explain one chapter may now want to teach a full lesson. A volunteer who organised one activity may wish to coordinate a day of events. There is nothing small about wanting to grow. The difficulty begins when we treat recent success as complete evidence of readiness. A task may have gone smoothly because someone else handled the difficult parts, because the circumstances were unusually kind, or because we used more energy than we can regularly spare.

This does not make that success false. It makes it worth understanding. Before deciding what comes next, we can ask which parts we completed independently, which required support, and which we have not yet faced. Honest answers allow confidence to have a shape. We may be dependable at explaining ideas and still inexperienced at managing questions from a larger group. Naming both facts helps us choose a meaningful challenge rather than an impressive description.

In remembering Hanuman, we can reflect on strength used in service. The question then changes slightly. Instead of asking only whether the new role would make us feel accomplished, we ask whether we can serve its purpose responsibly. The people depending on our work become part of the decision. Devotion deepens ambition by giving it an object beyond our own excitement.

Look for readiness in ordinary conditions

Consider a volunteer who has been helping six children with reading on Saturday afternoons. She now wants to run a session for twenty. Her affection for the children is real, and the smaller sessions have been enjoyable. Still, a larger group changes the work. She may need separate activities for different reading levels, another adult, a quieter room and a way to notice children who stop participating. More participants mean different responsibilities, not simply a louder version of the same afternoon.

A useful readiness review would examine the last few sessions. Did everyone receive attention? Could she adjust when an activity was too difficult? Did preparation fit around her other duties? Would the session still work if her usual helper were absent? These questions produce information that a general feeling of confidence cannot provide. They also reveal strengths she might otherwise overlook: perhaps she already prepares clear instructions and notices hesitation quickly.

At Ishta Mel, we understand such review as an act of respect for effort already made. We are not sitting in judgement on our worth. We are studying the relationship between a particular person, a particular task and its conditions. Readiness can change when those conditions change. The same person may be ready with a reliable assistant and unready when expected to manage everything alone.

Make the increase specific

Our JEET UP question becomes more useful when we stop saying merely, “I should aim higher.” Higher in what way? We could increase the number of people served, the difficulty of the material, the independence required or the length of the commitment. Increasing all four together makes it hard to understand what has stretched us too far. Choosing one dimension gives the next goal a clear purpose.

The reading volunteer might first lead ten children with the same helper and familiar material. Alternatively, she might keep the group small while learning to support two reading levels. Either choice can represent real growth. A goal does not become serious only when it looks dramatic to someone else. It becomes serious when we can explain what new ability it asks us to develop.

We can also decide in advance what evidence would support the increase. For the volunteer, that could mean every child receiving individual attention, activities beginning without repeated confusion, and preparation remaining manageable for several sessions. “It felt successful” has value, but observable details make the judgement more reliable. If these conditions are missing, she knows what to strengthen before expanding again.

Leave room for a demanding day

Readiness is easily overestimated when we imagine every future day resembling our best one. A responsible goal has room for an ordinary difficult day: a delayed bus, a helper falling ill, a task at home taking longer than expected. We need not anticipate every complication. We do need to know which essential part of the work can survive some disruption and where help can be requested.

This is where courage becomes quieter and more practical. It may mean telling an organiser, “I can take the larger group if we arrange another adult.” It may mean accepting a challenging role while declining an unrelated extra duty. Such statements make commitment believable. Our prayer to Hanuman can be for the steadiness to speak them without embarrassment and to accept what responsibility actually requires.

Agreeing to a review point also protects the purpose of the goal. After a few sessions, we can examine whether the new arrangement is serving the children and whether the effort remains sound. Adjusting the size or method at that point is part of learning to carry the role. The experience has given us evidence that was unavailable before we began.

A stronger yes

Before our next increase, we can finish three sentences: “I can already do this consistently”; “The new demand will be this”; and “I will know the arrangement is working when this happens.” If a sentence remains vague, that is a useful place to investigate. If the answers are clear, we have a firmer basis for moving forward.

For us, JEET UP can frame that moment between achievement and a larger commitment. We honour progress without asking it to answer every future question. With Hanuman in our thoughts, we seek a brave, proportionate yes: a goal worthy of effort, preparation suited to its demands, and enough humility to keep learning once the new responsibility begins.