LEARNING TO FADE GRACEFULLY IN LIFE







From a Nobody we strive hard and long to be a Somebody… and, we call that process ‘Success’. We crave for more recognition and more visibility… more wealth, fame and power… may be more respect and honour. And then we experience in our hearts that deep need to stay there for long, if not go further up. But, then, it is not going to be so… never. In Life, what goes up has to come down… On top, there is hardly any space… Someone is going to dislodge us… We are going to slide down, and fast…

For all of us, this is a scary thought, extremely painful one! All this time, we spent so much of our time and energy – invested so much of our emotions – on reaching the top, becoming rich and famous  and achieving more and more visibility. So, the thought of losing it all… going out of visibility… yes, it is one of our most nightmarish thoughts… How can we survive without being recognized, respected and glorified?

It is as tough as coming out of any other major addiction in Life!

The desire to be in limelight always comes from our deep insecurity… and most of us are not ready to accept or digest this truth. Fear of losing our ‘slot’… or ‘position’… drives us to do whatever it takes to stop us from fading away… But, that’s akin to swimming against the current. It’s a losing battle… It is bound to create more pain and conflict inside!

Just the way we learn to age gracefully, we should also learn to fade gracefully in Life. If it took a courageous heart for us to become a Somebody from a Nobody… it should now take even more courageous – and let me add ‘graceful and dignified’ – heart to become a Nobody from Somebody…

That’s how everything under God’ sky is … including ‘Success’… We are all the fading stars of this vast and endless galaxy!

Peace!

GERALD D’CUNHA


Pic.:Shruti Agarwal

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