NOT BEFORE A HARD AND LONG FIGHT

A few hours ago, one of my dear ex-students, and now a dear friend, Vikas, called me. “Sir, I ‘finally’ cleared ‘it’… I am a ‘full’ CA now!”

Vikas is a truly hard-working student. He has a razor-sharp and practical bent of mind… His grip on technology is praiseworthy… He has been working for a CA firm, where he is immensely liked by his boss… He already has several clients whose IT and GST returns he files.

Yet, for Vikas, the road to Chartered Accountancy was not a smooth ride by a chartered plane… It was tough, hard and long! Students, much below his caliber, have become Chartered Accountants with less struggle and frustration… Some of them, even, in the very first attempt!

“That’s luck,” I hear some reasoning out...

Maybe.

But, I have known Vikas for too long a time. So, I, always, felt bad for him. Every time, he would tell me, “Sir, I couldn’t clear, this time, too,” my heart would bleed from inside… “Is it worth all that frustration?” I would, often, ask to myself. In fact, a couple of times, I had advised Vikas, that he should not hesitate to ‘re-think’ his goal… “CA is not everything in life,” I had counselled him, “You can be happy by following your heart in anything else, too.”

But, Vikas did not quit. He proved: “A winner never quits, and a quitter never wins.”

So far so good!

New challenges await Vikas, just as they await all of us. He is wise enough to realize, that becoming a Chartered Accountant is not the end of life… Life still lies ahead!

Some days ago, a dear friend of mine was telling me an interesting story… It seems, right across the CA Institute in Chennai, there is a Church. Outside the church, there is this promise displayed: ‘JESUS NEVER FAILS’.

Apparently, some CA aspirants, had commented below: ‘ASK HIM TO APPEAR FOR CA EXAMS!”

“It isn’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.” Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) hammers this message into his young son’s skeptical skull…

Yes, it’s how hard you can take the blows, that determines how great a fighter and winner you are!

Today morning, another dear friend of mine had shared a popular video with me accompanied by these words:

“This video is not about badminton game alone. In life, there will be people who will smash you… constantly hit you. But, every single time, if you respond perfectly, if you respond sensibly, you will be rewarded at the right time…

Incredible video… How a strong defence can frustrate an aggressive attack… Worth watching.”

This friend of mine had lost her husband after a very long, hard and frustrating battle with bone-marrow cancer, But, a mother of two young daughters, this woman did not give up the battle… It’s too tough a battle… which, eventually, she lost…

But, did she?

I wrote back to my friend: “Yes, it’s very inspiring and it brings out the message. Some weeks ago, when I had first come across this video, I wanted to blog on it… but, adding to it: ‘Along with it, we must have the wisdom to let go, too.’ Acceptance comes only after fighting hard and long… as you did. But, then, you let go… Said, “Thy will be done.” I have done it, too… and, I still do it… but, not before a hard and long fight. It’s also called ‘The Path of Least Resistance’. Thanks for sharing this video, my dear friend. Love”

Whether it’s a Boxing bout, or a badminton match, and whether it’s a CA exam or bone-marrow cancer… fight we all must…and fight as long and as hard as we can. As Jesus Himself, as a human in this world, did when His end was nearing… He went down on His knees and cried out to His Father… ‘Thy will be done’!

Did Jesus fail?

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Rocky Balboa

Videos: YouTube/Vimal Kumar