Gerald D'Cunha

  “Of all the choices you make each day, none is more important than the choice of a positive attitude.” Germany Kent   I f I am not comfortable with the world outside, it only signifies, that I am not comfortable with my own self. This truth hits me, time and again, when I see myself irritated and reactive. Things don’t always go the way I want them to… Still, I want them to. The result is the inner conflict. When there is inner conflict, it’s difficult to stay positive… stay hopeful. Bitterness creeps in. The world outside looks dark… The challenge, therefore, is to clean up my own cobwebs… The world outside would, most certainly, appear clean. You and I can learn to stay positive by dealing with our daily little irritations… By being less judgmental, by rejoicing in others’ success, by being a little more patient and tolerant, by being kind to, both, ourselves and others, by staying away from all toxicity, by not letting others’ drama to disturb our own pe...

  “If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” Buddha O nly a deep awareness of our own imperfection can help us understand our fellow-beings’. “I am imperfect”… “I am fallible”… “I don’t have all the answers”… “I need help from others” – this realization helps us to be kind. Patience, tolerance, empathy, forgiveness and healing… Yes, they come from a deep realization of our imperfection. It is not   possible for us to deeply relate to our fellow-beings, if we do not recognize our own imperfection and need for interdependence? The lesser we see my own flaws and fallibility, the more we distance ourselves from our fellow-beings. Conversely, the more we see our own flaws and fallibility, the closer we get to our fellow-beings. Thus, before we learn to forgive others, we need to forgive our own selves. Compassion towards others begins with compassion to ourselves. This is an important lesson for inner peace. Yet, it’s the most elusive one. Ju...

  “In my stories, you will meet with underdogs and fighters. You will experience hunger and desire.” Avijeet Das I just concluded, two days ago, a well-designed programme for the degree students of a Mumbai suburban-college. These young kids hailed from ordinary families. Most of them lacked self-confidence and communication skills. There is a great sense of satisfaction and joy when you reach out to this section of the students… They realize the value of this programme and, invariably, approach it with earnestness. Our training team at MINDFLEX consisted of five trainers. I handled the one which is close to my heart – ‘Self-confidence and Communication Skills’. During this programme, I tell many inspiring stories. I keep two of them towards the end… ‘Poorna’ and ‘The Cheetah’. Both these stories leave a tremendous impact on the young minds. I have shared these stories several times in my Blogs before. Nevertheless, I wish to share ‘The Cheeta’ today, once again…  ...

  “Be such a student that when you go to a teacher, the teacher will feel himself like a student.” Mehmet Murat ildan   I t’s almost two months since I posted my last Blog. The last Blog was on the eve of my birthday. It was titled after Jim Reeves' popular song – ‘Where Do I go from Here’. Frankly, this question keeps haunting me for long... “Should I keep doing what I have been doing for years?”… Or, “Is there something new, something fresh I need to do through my years ahead?”… “If teaching, training and writing – including blogging – have given me the maximum joy in life, will they still continue to give me the same kind of joy and fulfilment?” … And this: "Am I doing all these things just to keep my kitchen fire burning – that is, for my survival?” Yes, these questions ceaselessly haunt me… I think, they should. Else, ‘freshness’ doesn’t come in life… Else, Life becomes a  drudgery… a survival game. Thus, even though my head and heart did come acr...