THE SKY HAS NO LIMIT, ANYWAY

 

“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment

a single man contemplates it,

bearing within him the image of a cathedral.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

 

My student, Shardul (17), had worn a T-shirt, today. I was drawn to the words written on its front:

“Feel the fear;

and, do it anyway”

I was familiar with these words; hence, I asked the young man, “Shardul, did you know whose words are those?”

“No Sir,” Shardul replied, sincerely.

It is the title of a very inspiring book by Suzan Jaffers: “Feel the Fear; And Do It Anyway.”

I told Shardul and his friends, that the book had tremendous impact on my mind when I read it in the nineties. I, particularly, mentioned about the five truths the author highlights about Fear in this book.

 

FIVE TRUTHS ABOUT FEAR

Truth #1: The fear will never go away as long as I continue to grow.

Truth #2: The only way to get rid of the fear of doing something is to go out and do it.

Truth #3: The only way to feel better about myself is to go out . . . and do it.

Truth #4: Not only am I going to experience fear whenever I’m on unfamiliar territory, so is everyone else.

Truth #5: Pushing through fear is less frightening than living with the underlying fear that comes from a feeling of helplessness.

Then, I told the group, that I would be blogging about it, later during the day.

They hadn’t heard about my Blog. So, I had to tell them something about it…

“I see interesting stories in little things around me, like these words on Shardul’s T-shirt… The moment my eyes fell on these words, my mind had already started weaving a story around it. You may call it ‘Creativity’ or ‘Possibility’, whatever… But, there is a fresh story hidden in every mundane thing around us…” I said.

The young kids were from eleventh standard, and they were just beginning their journey of Commerce field. I told them this, “Do you know, that there are lakhs and lakhs of students on the same journey? So, when people ask me the question, “Is there scope in this field?”, I immediately reply, “Yes, if your mind believes in imagination… Else, No.”

Anything and everything can be done differently – be it music, painting, cooking, designing, teaching, preaching, storytelling, photography, film-making, selling, buying, architecture, counselling, engineering, work in the medical field, legal field, travel field… and each and every conceivable field…

Yes, every work can be performed with your own special-touch. The field of imagination is like an ocean – vast, endless. The more you take from this ocean, the more is still found there… The scope is vast, endless… unimaginable!

So, Just as A.G. Gardiner weaved stories such as ‘On Umbrella Morals’ and ‘On Keyhole Morals’, we all can keep weaving our own stories…

Shardul and his fellow groupmates were glued…

No matter how much positive wisdom has been showered upon the mankind, from the beginning of this world, the Fear refuses to go away from this world… only to be reminded by people like Suzan Jeffers, again and again: “Honey, feel the fear, and do it anyway.”

The question, “Is there scope in this field?”… Yes, this question, too, refuses to go away from parents’ and their young ones’ minds. As I said, the only way to get an answer to this question is to trust one’s imagination. Just as there is a new story concealed in every little thing around us, there is a new possibility concealed in every field we step into…

Honey, sky is the limit…

And, the sky has no limit, anyway… So, do it anyway…

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s: Jatin Sondhi

 

Video: Christina Perri/Chill Beats