IF YOU HAVE TWO SHIRTS IN YOUR CLOSET

 



“Doing something for yourself gives you motivation;

but, doing something for others gives meaning.”

Maxime Lagase

 

There are our own ways through which most of us help others. Whenever we hear the word ‘help’, we tend to think of helping with money. No, help is not just with money. There are a hundred ways, with which, people out there need someone to help them. And, all of us, out here, are ready with our own way...

Now, when I say, “All of us, out here” – yes, is each one of us here really ready to help someone out there – in his/her own way? Is it really so?

I would love to think so, even if that makes me sound very naïve...

Our hearts resonate with someone’s ache in our own way...

Yesterday, a dear friend of mine, shared a post on her social media platform. She was promoting some healthy, home-roasted nuts and seeds which were beautifully prepared by one of her nieces. A pack of 250 grams was priced at Rs. 300. And, there was a line at the bottom: ‘Proceeds of this are for a  CKD patient.’

I got curious. My friend hailed from quite a well-off family and did not need to do this kind of venture for herself. So, I immediately called her to ask more about it...

Here is the story of the young niece of my friend...

The niece is presently 21-year-old. When she was 17, her kidneys started giving up and, now, both the kidneys have fully failed. She has to undergo dialysis thrice a week and the financial sources at home have completely drained. My friend has been a great source of this family’s financial need during these tough times. But, as I said at the outset, it’s not the financial help alone that someone out there seeks when down and depressed... Often, it can be some emotional support, some gentle hand to lift up the battered spirit...

So, my friend has been trying to do that with her niece - by encouraging her to stay in a positive state of mind despite the heavy mood swings. The young one loves cooking and experimenting with some new dishes. Thus, my friend has encouraged her niece to come out with this idea of healthy, roasted seeds and nuts and distribute them at a moderate price. The young one does this work on the days when she has no dialysis. My friend has taken upon her to promote it through her own contacts...

I happened to be one of them...




Our kidneys are two small organs and most of us are not even aware of their presence inside our bodies. We tend to become aware of the importance of healthy kidneys only when something happens to them. To the majority, the health of the kidneys becomes an issue over time, due to other diseases like uncontrolled diabetes, blood pressure etc. But, it is not too early in life as it has happened to this young one...

While my friend was describing to me the case of her niece, I went into a reflective mode... I was remembering what happened to one of my kidneys almost at a similar time (2018)... I had gone for a routine sonography for my prostate enlargement issue. But, in this sonography, a tumour was detected on the right kidney. Subsequent examinations confirmed, that it was a cancerous tumour and the particular kidney had to be surgically removed, Mercifully, it was the initial stage and the cancer hadn’t spread to any other part of my body. I was in the hospital for close to a month, due to  another complication as well: Pulmonary Embolism, which was life-threatening... where, due to a blood clot in my leg, my lungs got affected, causing extreme difficulty in breathing. And, that’s the time, I realized, what our lungs really did inside!

Anyway, long-story-short, I survived, and I have come this long – seven more years, since then. God had been merciful!

So, buying a few packets of roasted seeds and nuts was certainly how I could lend my helping hand to someone who needed it. But, then, as I said, we all are blessed to do it in our own special way. I instantly packed five of our inspirational books and a Christmas cake in a beautiful paper bag along with a handwritten note on a pretty card, that said:

“Honey, stay strong, and stay purposeful... For, Life is, indeed, beautiful.”

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says: “The best form of service is to uplift someone’s state of mind.”

And, the wiseman Ambrose says this: “If you have two shirts in your closet, one belongs to you; the other, to the man with no shirt.”

O boy! That’s too tough to think even...

 

 


 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s: fifty.club    Being    2. www.dailysabah.com

Video: My Vlogs

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BUT, NOT INTO EACH OTHER'S KEEPING...

Image
"If you can not love yourself, You can not love another.” I meet many young college students who are head-over-heals in relationship. They call it ‘Love’. One of the most difficult things to deal with in such relationship, for most of them, is: the desperate clinging of the other partner. “Why didn’t you call? Why didn’t you meet? Where did you go? What did you do? Who was there with you? Why can’t we go out? Why did you wear this? Why did you go there? Why? What? When? Who? Where? Whose?... Yes, all the possible ‘W’s’ in the world. Yes, in the world of our ‘Love Birds’. What starts as some romantic sweet-nothings, now is marred with endless probing, judging, accusing, blaming, sulking, fighting and pain. Most of them are unprepared to deal with this volatile shift… They end up hurting each other; more importantly, they end up hurting themselves. They begin to wonder: Where has all the sweetness gone? Why am I feeling so lonely now? Why is this suffocation? This fear? T...
Read more

THE SPANISH DANCE

Image
I remember reading this little story, many years ago. It was in Shiv Khera’s famous book: ‘YOU CAN WIN’. A man had a dog with an unusually special gift: he could run over water! Now, what a special gift that was, in deed! This man, obviously, felt proud about his gifted dog… and many, many people complimented him on it. He, undoubtedly, felt good about it. Then, one day, this man happened to meet an old, dear friend. He wanted to show this friend the special talent of his dog and took him along for hunting. They went to the countryside. There, he proudly demonstrated to his friend the unique talent of his dog. Every time he shot down a bird from the sky, the gifted dog, like a missile, would speed over the water, and fetch back the bird to his master. It happened repeatedly. “Did you see, my friend?” the man asked with immense pride. “Yes, I did?” replied the friend. “What did you see?” the man wanted to be reassured. “That, your dog can not swim!” Last night, I proudly ...
Read more

THEY NEED SUN, NOT TOO MUCH SHADE

Image
      “And stand together yet not too near together: For, the pillars of the temple stand apart And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s company.” Kahlil Gibran in ‘The Prophet’ I n his remarkable book, ‘The Prophet’, Kahlil Gibran’s famous lines might have been in response to the request – “Master, say something about Marriage”… Yes, it might have been used to emphasize on the need for ‘space’ in marital relationships… yet, in a larger context, ‘space’ is a universal thirst in every kind of relationship… You see, humans cannot grow in shade… They get suffocated, and die! In our summer programme on Personality Development, we, always, hold the Workshop on ‘Self-esteem’ first. The reason: a healthy self-esteem is the foundation for the healthy development of one’s personality… During the Workshop on ‘Self-esteem’, the facilitator (Swami Brahmavidananda Saraswati) helps the participants to reflect on the major parental messages that impact s...
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...