LANDING AMONG THE STARS

 



“Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with

what you can do.”

John Wooden, basketball player and coach

 

I just returned from my younger brother Vivek’s house. His daughter Riya’s Class-12 Board-exams have started. She has taken Science. Like all her counterparts, Riya, too, knows the importance of ‘percentage’… That, if she doesn’t score ‘high’, she will not be able to get into what she wants to. She knows, that she has to work hard – burn the candle from both ends…

But, I know my brother Vivek and his wife, Hemangi… They are neither helicopter parents, nor marks-maniacs. “Science was your choice… So, make the most of that choice.” … This is what the prevailing philosophy at home is. Thus, Riya is reasonably good… reasonably motivated… reasonably tensed. Not ‘High on anything’… Not at all.

Today, when I went into her little gupha – her study room that is – I saw her walls packed with photos, paper-cuttings, timetables, reminders, quotes, pictures of her heroes and sheroes… and this:

 

 


 

I smiled and, instantly, clicked a picture… My blog was born!

“She has put it up there after months of cajoling her to bring more focus, “Hemangi told me, “Hope she comes close to that.”

I think, ‘Coming close to that, or somewhere around that’ – yes, it is not important. The reminder, that ‘I am capable of achieving 99.9%,’ which means, ‘I have that potential,’ – yes, this reminder is important.

Thus, if Riya says she has the potential, let her consciously keep reminding herself about it. God willing, if she doesn’t come close to that, she will have to equally be conscious in reminding herself, that she has not been working to her ‘full potential’… or, that she has something else in store for her, in life…

“Shoot for the Moon. Even if you miss,  you’ll land among the Stars.” Whenever I revisit this quote, I ask these questions:

“Are not Stars brighter and more authentic than the Moon in the gigantic galaxy? And, are there not countless Stars as against that solitary Moon, up there?”

Therefore, knowing what you want is very, very, very important for success in any field on this Planet. As the wise say, “When you know what you want, the Universe will conspire in your favour.”

So, Riya, take a chill pill as you do your bhagam bhag…

You see, you have rightly left out that crucial  0.1%!



REFLECTION:

We need well-defined goals as constant reminders to reach there. When those goals come from within, motivation to work towards them, too, comes from within. Results, we all know, are not in our control. But, the work and the efforts are.

Our self-motivation is, always, linked to the goals that we set for ourselves… through our Faith.

Fear should be out.


 

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic’s: 1 & 3 Pixabay  2. Ritesh D'Cunha

Video: Deshbhakt

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

Image
Pic.; Ashwin Mohta M y Hindi was always bad. It still is. One reason for this was, that they introduced Hindi for us only in 6 th standard. Or, was it in 8 th ? I don’t remember… I only remember struggling to write and read… leave alone speak! But, I loved Hindi movies, and, strangely, I could understand the dialogues and the lyrics of the songs… I used to sing those songs (of course when no one was around me!) as if I was the lyricist… One of the songs was a very funny one. ‘Muthu Kodi Kawari Hada’. It was from Mehmood’s super-hit comedy – ‘Do Phool’. I was a 15-year-old high-school boy when I had heard that song (not watched the movie). I could grasp the meaning of two words – ‘Muthu Kodi’… which meant ‘Give kiss’… But, what ‘Kawari Hada’ meant, I have no clue till date! It was just like ‘Why this kolaveri di’... Yes, why ask? Simply enjoy the beats… And, the beats are great… The rest... Who cares? Really! So, whatever bit of Hi...
Read more

SELLING MIRRORS IN THE CITY OF THE BLIND

Image
“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.” - Kabir T here is a universal human weakness – and it dates back to the days of fallen civilizations – and it is: to place people on pedestal and trying to be smothered by them, feel loved and protected in their company… worship them as mentors, heroes,  gurus, Mahagurus and Satgurus… Make these mortals larger-than-life cut-outs, worship them as flawless, pure and give one’s all… And, then, ‘take’ everything from them blindly as divine… Give everything to them blindly… Eventually, what happens is:  one more dangerous bondage… What was supposed to free you now becomes a new prison… It’s sad to see this happen! T his room, where I am writing this Post, has no image of any deity. I have no image of any Guru or Master around me… My question is: “Am I not able to feel close to Almighty God?  How ...
Read more

"HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE... IT IS A CHOICE"

Image
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone… It has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” – Ursula K. Le Guin,  The Lathe of Heaven T welve years ago, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married, the world began to hail the couple as ‘Brangelina’. It became a fashion for couples around us to call themselves so… Norbert and Teresa renamed them as ‘Noresa’…  Amol and Vishaka baptized their relationship as ‘Amoshka’… and, Salman and Nargis became ‘Salgis’! I and my wife, too, got tempted to re-christian our matrimonial relationship as ‘Germa’... That is, Gerald and Anima, to be precise! B efore I proceed any further, let me make it very clear, here… that, I have no business to judge on the break-up of Brad Pitt and Angelina’ Jolie’s marriage. I have no inclination to go into why, how, what when etc behind it… The couple ‘chose’ to split. And, it’s their choice… Only they know how good or bad… how joyful or pain...
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...