FLAWS ARE THE ONLY FLAWLESS THINGS IN LIFE

 

“A winner is the one who recognizes his God-given talents,

works his tail off to develop them into skills,

and uses these skills to achieve his goals.”

Larry Bird

 

A couple of days ago, I saw a missed call after one of my online sessions. I called back and found it was Gitanjali.

Gitanjali is the wife of one of my dear old-student, Sunil. Apparently, as my students often do, Sunil, too, had spoken about his old teacher  so much, at home, that this woman who heads a sales team in her organization  – a mother of young son who pursues Engineering – wanted to get some help from me… “Sir, I am good at my work… both my seniors and juniors have been giving me excellent feedback… But, I find myself tongue-tied in many situations and struggling for words and how to convey whatever I want to… Can you help me to overcome this problem, Sir? I want to improve my English.”

I haven’t changed anything in  the above dialogue of Gitanjali… She spoke fluently, enthusiastically and, above all, she spoke in English… and, this: She spoke to someone she had only heard of and never met… I didn’t find any hesitation or feeling of being intimidated from her end… She conveyed perfectly well what she wanted to.

So, what would I say to this earnest woman. “Ma’am, you don’t need any help from me as far as English is concerned,” I calmed her down. “You spoke very fluently, never struggling for any words and never showing any hesitation or felling of intimidation.”

“I know Sir. But, I find myself struggling at times… feeling bad when that happens… I want to overcome this problem,” Gitanjali said.

“Gitanjali, as I understand, your problem is not a big problem and it is not about English… It’s about your self-confidence and self-doubts. Let me tell you, that we all – me included – face such problems regularly… We need to be kind to ourselves… As long as such things do not cripple us in our day-to-day functioning, it’s perfectly fine to have them in our lives… Become aware of them… Let those moments pass by without crushing you down… Be kind to yourself… It’s okay, It’s okay.”

Well, I was able to calm down this anxious woman. I was happy I could reach out to a ‘soul in need’ (like a Venkat in sankat!) with my own God-given talent, which, over the years, I had finely honed as my skill, to achieve whatever goals I was setting for myself… Yes, I became aware of what I was doing with my own talent and skills to other people…

Was this awareness helping me to build my own self-confidence?

Yes Sir, it was.

In life, there is no better way to feel good about ourselves… We  need to recognize our talents, hone them into fine skills… and go about encashing our dreams by using them…

Is there any better way to feel self-confident in Life?

Watch this favourite singer of mine – Harry Belafonte… 

Harry Belafonte's songs are distinct about the beauty of his Caribbean  islands. What makes me watch him on stage, over and over again, is the flawless manner in which he ‘communicates’ with his audience… and creates that magic. We can make out how he has converted his singing talent into a fine skill, to  achieve whatever he wants to…

But, then, can it be ‘flawless’, as I chose to describe?

I doubt. He must’ve performed the same song hundreds of time before his audience… and, sometimes, it might not have simply worked… Yes, he might have felt the same way as Gitanjali was now feeling…

The only ‘flawless’ things in our lives are our own ‘flaws’! Yes, our imperfections are the only perfect things about us, Sir.

On Friday, around 6 in the evening, I, once again, received a call from Gitanjali. From the noise and honking around her, I could make out that she was calling me from a vehicle. I quickly learnt, that she was on her way home in an autorickshaw… “Sir, can you please, please start from tomorrow… I need some help badly.”

Something at her workplace must’ve prompted Gitanjali to make that plea to me. I said without even blinking, “Why from tomorrow… Let’s start right now, madam… No need to make a ceremony about ‘learning’… Just learn… “When the student is ready, the teacher appears!”

Thus, for next fifteen minutes or so, I had this one-of-a-kind experience of doing my own job – ‘flawlessly’ – just as Harry Belafonte would have on stage…

Again, did I say – ‘Flawlessly’?

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s: 1. Sean Witter 2. Artem Beliakin/pexels.com 3. Joel Nevius/pixabay

Video: Harry Belafonte/BalticSeaChris