THE POWER OF PACE AND THE PAUSE





















We don’t like the hectic pace of life: the deadlines, rush, anxiety… worry and tension. No matter how well-organized we are, unexpected events pop up and our plans go haywire… Maybe, not always… but, many a times…

Like…

Our health issues or of our nearest and dearest ones…

Unexpected financial commitments…

Our subordinates remaining absent when we need them the most… Or, the boss wants us to be in the office when we are needed badly at home…

Suppliers not delivering in time… Or, we are not able to deliver to customers in time… EMI’s staring at us… A scary tax or legal notice arrives by post… Someone is hell-bent to victimize you… Or, someone comes from nowhere and rams into your car from behind… yes, when you are, already, late to reach…

You are stuck in the traffic… It is still as death!

You have gotten into a nasty argument with the autowala or your neighbor …

Your young daughter is still not home… it is 1 am… Or, your young son has gone out with his college friends… and, it is, already, 2 am…



Every transformer has its capacity… The human mind, too.

It is mind’s nature to be active… think… run, rush, panic… feel excited and anxious… feel elated and depressed, too…

Yes, pace and tension are the very essence of existence… We may not like them… We may try to avoid them… But, our living brings them along…

Yes, pace and tension are the part and parcel of living…

The transformer has to get hot…

The mind has to.



And, that’s why we need to shutdown the transformer, time to time…

The mind needs to cool off…

Run and rush, we must, if we need to live in this world… if we need to perform, achieve, succeed… But, then, we have to slow down, too… Keep our tools down, remove our helmets and gloves, switch off the machine, the transformer… and, like Jesus did so often, just leave the crowd alone, suddenly, and disappear into the mountains… just to be by oneself… Just be alone, quiet… meditative and reflective… 




Just to cool off… Just to be centered… 


and, start afresh with a new vigor and vision…



They call it ‘a retreat’…

No matter who we are – bosses or subordinates, merchants or mercenaries, teachers or the taught… politicians, police, priests or just the public… yes, all of us need to live life with the pace and tension it brings along… and, all of us have to slow down, too… Just cool off… Just go quiet, for some time!

Wishing for a life without its hectic pace will be only an idle wish… It will only frustrate us, more and more…

Ideal has, always, been this:

Like a wood-cutter does, when his saw goes blunt, we should take a break to sharpen our saws… We should slow down, cool off…

And, start afresh… and alive!



GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Mehul Bhuva










Comments

Irene Lobo said…
yes agree with you; we can't do without the pace...and, thus, we appreciate the pause in life. Nice post.
= Irene
August 6, 2013 at 5:07 PM
Anonymous said…
As usual, very comforting and inspiring. Suresh
August 6, 2013 at 5:12 PM
Anonymous said…
That's the truth of existence, nicely captured.

++ Tony
August 7, 2013 at 3:51 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

Image
Pic.; Ashwin Mohta M y Hindi was always bad. It still is. One reason for this was, that they introduced Hindi for us only in 6 th standard. Or, was it in 8 th ? I don’t remember… I only remember struggling to write and read… leave alone speak! But, I loved Hindi movies, and, strangely, I could understand the dialogues and the lyrics of the songs… I used to sing those songs (of course when no one was around me!) as if I was the lyricist… One of the songs was a very funny one. ‘Muthu Kodi Kawari Hada’. It was from Mehmood’s super-hit comedy – ‘Do Phool’. I was a 15-year-old high-school boy when I had heard that song (not watched the movie). I could grasp the meaning of two words – ‘Muthu Kodi’… which meant ‘Give kiss’… But, what ‘Kawari Hada’ meant, I have no clue till date! It was just like ‘Why this kolaveri di’... Yes, why ask? Simply enjoy the beats… And, the beats are great… The rest... Who cares? Really! So, whatever bit of Hi
Read more

"HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE... IT IS A CHOICE"

Image
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone… It has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” – Ursula K. Le Guin,  The Lathe of Heaven T welve years ago, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married, the world began to hail the couple as ‘Brangelina’. It became a fashion for couples around us to call themselves so… Norbert and Teresa renamed them as ‘Noresa’…  Amol and Vishaka baptized their relationship as ‘Amoshka’… and, Salman and Nargis became ‘Salgis’! I and my wife, too, got tempted to re-christian our matrimonial relationship as ‘Germa’... That is, Gerald and Anima, to be precise! B efore I proceed any further, let me make it very clear, here… that, I have no business to judge on the break-up of Brad Pitt and Angelina’ Jolie’s marriage. I have no inclination to go into why, how, what when etc behind it… The couple ‘chose’ to split. And, it’s their choice… Only they know how good or bad… how joyful or painful that
Read more

SELLING MIRRORS IN THE CITY OF THE BLIND

Image
“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.” - Kabir T here is a universal human weakness – and it dates back to the days of fallen civilizations – and it is: to place people on pedestal and trying to be smothered by them, feel loved and protected in their company… worship them as mentors, heroes,  gurus, Mahagurus and Satgurus… Make these mortals larger-than-life cut-outs, worship them as flawless, pure and give one’s all… And, then, ‘take’ everything from them blindly as divine… Give everything to them blindly… Eventually, what happens is:  one more dangerous bondage… What was supposed to free you now becomes a new prison… It’s sad to see this happen! T his room, where I am writing this Post, has no image of any deity. I have no image of any Guru or Master around me… My question is: “Am I not able to feel close to Almighty God?  How does it matter
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...