NEW EYES
If roses and cactus both are needed to make our gardens, and if both of them have their own place and an irreplaceable beauty about them… then, this must be said: “Let the roses be… Let the cactus be.”
A worried
parent was talking to me on phone, this morning. He and his wife are really
worried about their young son. The young boy is just unwilling to work hard,
focus on what they had thought as his career would be: Medicine. No, the boy
seems way behind and frustration is consuming the hearts of his parents.
In life, it
is very difficult to let go… Yes, for all of us. In this case, it is difficult
for the parents to let go of their ‘control’… their clinging to their ideas,
plans, aspirations about their son… even the social image, unwittingly, they
have webbed around their hearts… It is tough to accept and come to terms with
the reality that their son is a ‘young man’ now and he does assert, does
resist, does rebel…and, all this is for the right reasons, and all this is just
a part of our growing-up experience… and it is just natural.
Till
parents are able to see this reality… accept it, respect it and celebrate it… yes,
till that happens, there is simply going to be conflict.
“Let the
roses be… Let the cactus be,” I found myself telling the worried father, “Just
allow them to be.”
What did my dad and mom,
when I was young – back in my village – wanted me to be?
A good
boy!
Yes, as
far as I remember, my simple parents wanted their son to be a good boy!
They had
no other plans. They couldn’t… as they hadn’t been the so-called highly educated-informed-and-
aware parents. But, they had great trust in the ways of Nature and plans of God.
They knew, that whatever their son would grow up to be, it would be according
to this way, according to this plan… So, they allowed their son to be…
They
allowed me to bloom as I was destined to be…
They just
stood on the sides and watched this blooming with great delight, love and, yes,
with great pride!
Did I
turn out to be a rose in their garden… or a cactus?
Until one
is able to appreciate and value the beauty and power of ‘individuality’ of
a rose and a cactus… Yes, until then, only worry is destined to be!
Just a couple of days ago,
I had given our young-ones, during a PD session, a passage to present. It was
from one of my earlier books ‘The Cheetah’.
NEW EYES
“In the end nothing will change…
Yet, everything WILL!
You will not find
your
spots replaced by
the Tiger’s stripes…
Yes, a Cheetah will remain a Cheetah
and a Tiger will remain a Tiger…
All that is going to happen is:
You will get ‘new eyes’
to appreciate and value your own spots.”
In a jungle, a Cheetah was
teaching his cub the art of hunting. Of the seven lessons the seasoned hunter
imparted to his offspring, this was the last one…
“Yes my son, in the end, nothing will change…
Yet, everything WILL!”
The more
I think about this lesson, the more I get convinced that it is our young cubs
that impart it to us:
“Yes my dad and mom, in the end, nothing will
change…
Yet, everything WILL!”
After
all, why need a Cheetah’s cub in the jungle be trained to hunt?
GERALD D’CUNHA
Pic.: Neetu Sharma
Comments
Thanks. .........
Girish