A HUNDRED HASHTAGS

 



“The secret is discovered in what moves and touches us,

in  what makes us tremble.”

Sam Keen

Some days ago, I was invited to hold a session for the students of an Architecture college in Mumbai. The students belonged to 2nd year to 5th year. It was their fest week, and different kinds of Workshops – yes, anything other than Architecture – were being held by people from different fields. As I had held sessions many times before in this college, the Principal gave me a free hand: “Anything that can help bring the best out them.”… This was the brief.

Does anyone know what is ‘the best’ in him?

I don’t know my own ‘best’… unless I am unusually driven…

I don’t know my best potential…

I don’t know how good I am…

I don’t know how creative, how brilliant… how loving, caring, giving, brave etc. I can be…

“The best”, as they say,  is, always, “yet to come.”

We are busy just scratching the surface… while ‘the best’ is hidden deep inside.

And, often, it takes something unusual to get the best out of us…

Believe me, when everything goes on as usual in our lives, why would we  bother about what lies beyond the usual?

Thus, I had captioned the my session as ‘Am I Running for Lunch, or Am I Running for Life?” The title was inspired by one of my Favorite motivational stories…

 

THE CHEETAH AND THE DEER




Once in a jungle. A Cheetah was teaching his son how to hunt. As the teaching was in progress, they smelt a prey… It was a Deer at a distance.

The Cheetah said, “Son, a Deer is coming our way; watch how I hunt… Okay?”

“Okay dad,” said the son, excitedly.

They hid behind a large bush and waited for the Deer to come…

As the Deer was about to cross their path, the Cheetah leapt from behind the bush and tried to grab the delicate deer… But, the Deer escaped, and the chase began… The faster the Cheetah ran, even faster the Deer did. Finally, the Deer disappeared completely from the sight of the Cheetah…

The Cheetah returned, and collapsed before his cub, totally exhausted…

Looking at his father’s condition, the little one said, innocently, “Dad, you lost and the Deer won.”

The Cheetah pulled his son close to his bosoms and said, lovingly, “Yes son, I lost and the Deer won… Do you want to know why?”

“Yes Dad, I want to,” said the eager son.

“Son, I lost and the Deer won,” explained the father, “because, I was running for my lunch, while that Deer was running for her Life… And, that made all the difference between winning and losing.”

The Cheetah may be hailed as the fastest animal in the jungle. But, when he runs just for his ‘lunch’ he will never ever know what his true potential is… “Don’t try to promote your routine work with a hundred hashtags,” I had advised the budding architects, “You don’t need them. What you need is that fire in your belly - to run for Life… It will take care of everything.”




What is really good comes out… and spreads on its own.

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s: Pixabay

 

Video: Got Talent Global

 

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