BREAKING THE GLASS CEILING... AND CHASING OUR DREAMS

“Sky is the limit.” As a young man, when I first heard this saying, I really felt charged: “Hey, you can do anything”… “Nothing is impossible”. Yes, all these went well along the saying. Then, Napoleon Hill provided to me the right perspective: “Whatever you are able to conceive and believe in your mind, you can achieve.” The perspective was clear as a summer sky: “Your sky lies in your own mind, your own imagination… Therefore, you set your own limits.”

So, today, whenever someone tries to pump me with  the war-cry, “Nothing is impossible”, I remind him of the scene in the movie ‘3 Idiots’, in which, Raju (Sharman Joshi) squeezes  toothpaste fully from the tube on Farhan’s (R. Madhavan) palm  and retorts, “If so, put this back into the tube, now!”

Well, the point is not whether or not there are things beyond our personal limits… whether or not everything is really possible for us to achieve in life. In my view, the point is this:  When we want to achieve our dreams, and when we have enough desire, determination, persistence, imagination and other ingredients in place, whether it is possible for us to achieve our dreams or not. And, even more important is this question: Whether the dream is worth the efforts or not?

Because, the ‘war cry’ ‘Nothing is impossible’, unless taken in a holistic perspective, can simply make us look like horses wearing blinkers! Which means, we may achieve our ‘goals’, but end up losing a lot many ‘precious things’ in life.

Also, let’s examine the context in which the toothpaste scene is shown in ‘3 Idiots’… The exams are approaching, and our Raju, knowing well he and his friend, Farhan, have done nothing the pass the exam, says to his friend anxiously, ‘I am getting tension’… He is sane enough to realize their position – that, they haven’t put efforts to pass… Hence, he finds Farhan’s motivation, ‘Nothing is impossible’ unrealistic, a hollow promise. So, he challenges, “Le, ab daal isko vapas!”

Yes, as Napoleon Hills teaches, we can achieve whatever dream we want to, only if we are able to conceive it and believe in it in our mind… Otherwise, we can’t.

Let’s not bring in miracles here!

Yesterday (Dec 26, 2017), Priyanka Chopra had delivered a very eloquent and inspiring speech at The Penguin’s Annual Lecture. The Subject was very fascinating: ‘Breaking the Glass Ceiling – Chasing a Dream’.

For those, who are not familiar with the phrase ‘Glass Ceiling’… It is the invisible limit or barrier to one’s career beyond a certain point. It was first coined in the seventies by feminists to convey, that women, all said and done, had to face in their lives those progress limits. The phrase, eventually, was used to relate to members of minority communities in America. For example, the perception prevalent, then, that Africans, Asians, Italians, Mexicans, who lived in America, could not progress in their career beyond their ‘Glass Ceilings’ (For Asians, it was ‘The Bamboo Ceiling’).

Decades have rolled by since the invention of the phrase ‘Glass Ceiling’. Women, like Priyanka Chopra, have refused to accept this perception… And, I admire them for that.

In life, all limitations are mind’s alone. Woman or man, the Black, Brown or White… if we want it dearly, we will have it… Money, position, fame and power included.  However, I believe, just as there are those invisible barriers in life, called ‘Glass Ceilings’, which we need to break in order to progress beyond, in life, there are also some invisible and delicate  glass ceilings, which we should not try to break…

Chase not all dreams … Break not all ceilings!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Anil Bedi

Videos: YouTube