Gerald D'Cunha

“We have two lives and the second begins when you realize you only have one.” -           Mario de Andrade, Brazilian poet T here are only two kinds of people in this world: Those who want to be right, and those who want to be peaceful. T o the first kind, Life is never too short… They think, that Life is long enough for them to prove they are right. Proving to be right is central to their existence… Minus that obsession, that sole battle, there is no purpose for their lives. You see many of them waging their battles even from their death-beds… even when they know there is nothing to prove to anyone from a death-bed… even when the entire Life is wasted on a blind pursuit… Yes, they don’t mind taking their I-want-to-prove-‘am-right battle to the graveyard! T o the second kind, Life is too short to be wasted with mindless battles. The desire to live in peace is central to their existence… That is the purpose of

I did not watch a lot of ‘crap’, today, on my phone or computer… I did not read a lot of ‘crap’ from the newspaper… I did not take some calls, did not respond to some messages and, I did not allow some people to come into my space… Unimportant stuff and unimportant people… I just cut them off from my consciousness, consciously! So much of the stuff I soak myself in, every day – from the time I rise to the time I retire at night – yes, so much of that mind-fodder is not only unimportant, but, it’s also toxic. “Dad, be particularly careful about what thoughts you take to bed,” my 26-year-old son advised to me, today, “If you consciously feed your mind with positive and peaceful thoughts, you will rise in the morning with a new energy, upbeat.” Do I consciously feed my mind with positive and peaceful thoughts every night when I retire? There are days, I don’t. On those days, the thoughts I go to bed with are negative and disturbing. The

“B lame keeps wounds open,” says Thomas S. Manson, “Only forgiveness heals.” I know it is true. Yet, I find it so difficult to end this blame-game. Frankly, I only pretend, often, that I don’t blame… But, I alone know what a lie that is! Now, why is it so difficult for me to end the blame-game completely? What comes on the way? My Ego! Our Egos! So often, I have seen, that we come very close to ending our misunderstandings and making peace. But, just when we are about to embrace, something – some past unresolved memory, hurt etc – pops up, and we step back, once again! ‘We’ means… two people from within our families, as close as a husband and a wife, a parent and a son or daughter, an uncle/aunt and a nephew/niece… two partners in a business, two neighbours, two community members, two business or political opponents etc… Experience shows us,  that, even though we all desire to live a peaceful life, we do not know what prevents us from doing