WHY DO YOU AND I LEAVE HOME, EVERY MORNING?






Pic.: Sundar Srinivasan

The birds in the sky, the fishes in the sea and the animals in the jungle, all leave in the morning in search of food. No one has instructed them to do so; they know, if they don’t leave home, they will die of hunger...

And, man?

Every morning, you and I leave home, too. But, is food – satisfaction of the hunger of our stomach - our only objective?

It is not. Still, we all leave, every morning... Else, we know, that we all will starve of hunger ... not just of our stomachs, but, also, of our minds, hearts and souls...

Our survival instinct is the greatest motivator... Deep down, in all of us, there is that desire to live, survive... protect ourselves from our predators... Birds, fishes, animals and man – we all have this burning desire to remain alive... From this basic desire, follow the other desires: food, clothes and shelter... And, for man, the social animal, there is a greater drive, a greater reason... It is: the desire to leave a legacy... yes, of some kind.

Think about it... Why do you and I leave home, every morning? What keeps our motivation alive?

I am sure, if we look within our hearts, we will, certainly, find, that, along with the desire to survive, we do have the desire to leave a legacy...

Most of us have loved this popular fable of the deer and the lion:



“Every morning, in Africa, a deer wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest deer or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a deer: when the sun comes up, you’d better be running!”


True, whether I am a deer or a lion, or whether I am a student or a teacher, or whether I am a priest or a house-holder... yes, I have to wake up, every morning, and leave my home... alert, agile and alive and, yes, hopeful... Else, I know I will not survive... I will starve of hunger of my body and soul, both!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Comments

Nirav Advani said…
True, not the desire for food alone, legacy runs through our breath! Nirav Advani
May 21, 2014 at 1:54 PM
Anonymous said…
Inspiring!!!.... Manish
May 21, 2014 at 3:19 PM
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