God hasn’t made all five fingers alike… Nor has He made me and my four
brothers, alike. We five are as different as our own five fingers. Some of us,
including me, are very shy – very introvert. Maybe, it’s come from our mom’s
genes. And, some of us are open - very extrovert. Yes, maybe, it’s come from
our dad’s genes…
Why five children of
the same parents are as different as cheese and chalk, yes, it shall, always, remain
a mystery to me!
I remember my
childhood. I, always, hid myself from the world… I did not take part in any
social events like singing, dancing, acting, public-speaking etc. As I turned a
teenager, I, also, turned more and more inward into my own shell… “The whole
world is watching me… and judging me”… Yes, this was how my mind operated.
Those thoughts – of self-doubts - were the seeds of my lack of self-confidence.
But, along this struggle to deal with my shyness, I, also, desired to open up.
Because I was too shy to express in speech, I began to express my deepest
feelings – including my fears – through notes in my personal diaries… The habit
has stood by me, even today; and, I think, it will stand by be till the end of
life. I write because I am shy; and, that’s the truth! Even the reason why I became
a teacher was, because, I wanted to ‘express’… There is a direct link between my
shyness and teaching profession. Finally, I would not have started THE DAWN
CLUB, if wasn’t a shy person!
“Shyness doesn’t go,”
I, often, tell others. Many agree and many disagree. It hasn’t gone from me
after all these decades of reading, teaching, preaching, writing and training…
There are so many areas where I sound very, very awkward and find it stressful when
I attempt to venture into those areas. So, I make peace and I let them be! All
that I have done, along the journey of my self-growth, is, that I have learnt
to overcome shyness just enough to feel good about myself… just enough to feel confident…
But, the shy core has
lasted!
“A man's
vanity is more fragile that you might think,” said Lisa Kleypas, “It's easy for
us to mistakeshyness for coldness, and silence for
indifference.”
Shy people are highly misunderstood lot. Sometimes, others mistake
us to be cold and indifferent, while, in reality, we are only shy. Similarly,
sometimes, we mistake others’ shyness to be coldness and silence to be indifference…
That’s the sad story of shyness!
This morning, I came across this heart-warming video…
Look at the little girl who, with her exuberance, steals our
hearts… And, look at the shy girl next to her! Look at the whole group of
little ones… The song is the same, the stage is the same, the opportunity to ‘express’
is the same… Yet… Yes, yet!
“My feelings are too loud for words and too shy for the
world.” Dejan Stojanovic seems to have spoken on behalf of
many of us here – who hide!
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“Love doesn’t just sit there like a stone; it has to be made like a bread, remade all the time, made new.” Ursula K Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven “E motional blackmail! Parenting is something, I feel, I am failing! We keep telling her to do things she is not keen doing… I can’t engage her in books… I can’t take responsibility of a dog, the only thing she is asking for since ages! What to do, my teacher?” This was the daily frustration of a typical parent. She has two little girls… One of them (age ten) has brought the mother, once my student and now a friend who lives abroad, express her frustration here. Now, I have had a ‘longer experience’ as a parent compared to this student/friend of mine. So, the temptation was to give her some ready gyan on what to do and what not to do… Whether she should gift a dog to her little one or not. The reality was this… My gyan was of no use for my friend to deal with her daily situatio...
If you have food in your fridge and clothes on your back, A roof over your head and a place to sleep, You are ‘richer’ than 75% of the entire world! If you have money in your wallet and a little change, And can go anywhere you want, You are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy! If you woke up this morning, with more health than illness, You are more blessed than a million people Who won’t survive this week and die! If you can actually read this message, and understand it, You are more fortunate than the three-billion people in the world, Who can not see, don’t know English, or suffer being mentally retarded! LIFE is not about men/women who dumped you, Or whatever else that doesn’t matter… It is about a thousand other reasons to be Happy… So, ‘CHEERS!!!’ to this Life… Have a cheerful day!!! Almost a month has passed since I received this Good-Morning message from my younger brother, Viva. Ev...
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