Gerald D'Cunha

    “Growing old is mandatory; but, growing up is optional.” Walt Disney   W e don’t think about ageing when we are young… and, why should we? But, when we are getting older, whether we like it or not, we realize, that we are no younger… Now, no matter what positive philosophy we choose to weave around getting older – ‘aging gracefully’, or ‘age is only a number’, or ‘age is only in your mind’ and so on - the hard truth is this: Growing old is mandatory… But, what we try to do is to choose the option: never to cease growing up… That’s what the legendary Walt Disney said, and did… The Disney Land, Disney World, Disney Movies – everything about Walt Disney testifies for his commitment to remain childlike, never to lose the sense of wonder… curiosity and that incessant hunger to keep growing up …   Y esterday, our son turned 33. During the day, he shared, in our family group, an AI-generated picture of himself – he, at 33, hugging his baby self. Probab...

  “Through every turn of the wheel of life, we feel the touch of God’s love and mercy.” Unknown T he time to make decisions is not when we are too excited, too depressed, or too angry. In other words, when we are emotionally unstable, we should let our thoughts to stabilize, regain the perspective – and make decisions from that place… Naturally, when we are too excited, we tend to overestimate our strength, and, on the other hand, when we are feeling too low – anxious, sad, hurt, or angry – certainly, that’s when our mind is clouded… “Don’t’ cut a tree when you see no leaves on it,” is one of the oldest pieces of advice. There is a season for the tree to lose all its leaves and look hopeless. But, we know, there is a new season around the corner when the tree will wear fresh, vibrant leaves. So, Life goes on in this manner… It invites us to stay hopeful through every season… A friend of mine, who lives in a distant city, loves to write on one of her favourite subjects...

  “The beautiful thing about setbacks is, that they introduce us to our strengths.” Robin Sharma   I am never tired of telling young kids this: “Look, you need to know your strengths and build your self-confidence around it.” When I invite them to share some of their strengths, often, I find them clueless. They seem confused between talents and strengths; sometimes, between skills and strengths. I tell them this: “Talents are God-given; you are born with them… When you become self-aware, you discover, that you have a talent to sing, dance, speak, write, paint, design, play sport, tell stories etc.” We all are born with some of these talents. When we become aware of them, some of us go about turning them into fine skills… While some of us do it on our own (self-develop), others do it through training and coaching. That’s why some of us join classes for drawing, singing, dancing, speaking, designing, teaching etc. Every talent can be turned into a fine skill – and when...

  “State calls its own violence - Law; but, that of the individual - Crime.” Max Stirner   My friends and relatives may hold different viewpoints from those of mine on social, political, religious, cultural issues. My spouse and son may hold opposing views… My students, my colleagues, my neighbours – it’s the same everywhere… which means, I cannot expect you to think – and view the world – exactly as I do… In a democractic society, each one of us has this privilege of harbouring and expressing his/her respective viewpoints; and, that puts equal responsibility on each one of us to be patient with each other – to accommodate, tolerate and respect each one’s rights… I think, it is one of the hardest lessons each individual has to learn and practice… Just be patient with others, be more tolerant and accommodating. It’s okay if others – however near and dear they are – do not agree with my viewpoints… Let them feel free to express and assert. It doesn’t make me any wea...

  “It can’t be done for you; it must be done by you.” Frank Sonnenberg   I remembered, two days ago, this incident from the life of Jesus… One day, a very wealthy man approached Jesus and said: “Master, I have followed most of the   commandments of God; what else need I to do to enter the Kingdom of God?” Jesus told the wealthy man this: “Give away all your wealth, and follow me.” Obviously, the rich man got disheartened and walked away from Jesus. Jesus, then, looked at the crowd and said: “It’s as difficult for a rich man to walk into the Kingdom of God as it’s for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle.” Two days ago, I remembered this incident when a 25-year-old young man approached me asking, “Sir, I am graduate… I go daily to my family’s business outlet… I speak fairly well… and I live in a caring joint family… But, I lack self-confidence inside me… What else need I to do?” I had asked this young man to see me at 9 a.m., the day after. At 8.45 a...

  “And when the broken-hearted people Living in the world agree There will be an answer, let it be…” (From the song ‘Let it Be’ by The Beatles)   A s I write this Post, two contrasting scenes come before me… The first scene is from the film ‘Lagaan’… For long, there is a drought in the village and the people are heart-broken, anxious, and worried… They have come together with the last hope: a heart-wrenching plea to God… O Paalanhare, Nirgun aur Nyaare O Paalanhare, Nirgun aur Nyaare Tumre bin hamra kaunon naahin This song is my all-time favourites, as that’s how you and I have been praying – whether alone, as a family or as a community – just crying out to the Lord… ‘Have mercy on us, O Lord’… And does the Lord hear? The hope says, ‘He does’… our sincere trust and faith say, ‘He does’… The second scene that comes before me is from the villages of Punjab which are presently devastated by floods… And, we find ourselves pleading to the same merciful Lor...

  “The Universe is not short on wake-up calls; we are just quick to hit the snooze button.” Brene Brown   I s there a ‘perfect’ time to make amends in life? I think, no matter what, we make amends in life – call it course correction – only when the time to do so shows up. And, generally, when that time shows up, it does as a wake-up call… That’s why, wake-up calls in life are necessary to shake us up hard and wake us up to make changes. Brene Brown reminds us: “The Universe is not short on wake-up calls; we are just quick to hit the snooze button.” T wo days ago, a dear friend of mine was telling me how one of the wake-up calls shook him hard, one late night… This friend’s company had asked him to move to Canada to handle extensive volume of work covering various parts of the world. The job responsibility and the family responsibility, often, find themselves at loggerheads. Two school-going kids, wife and elderly parents in India – the house, car and educat...

  “What a teacher is, is more important than what he teaches.” Karl Menninger   I was talking to one of my overseas ex-students, this morning. During the conversation, this dear old student, with all his good heart, was suggesting to me to expand my reach by doing this and doing that… a   dozen ideas he dished out in a few minutes. I humbly heard him out… Thanked him profusely… Then, I said to myself this: “I am presently burning with this idea… Let me only do ‘this’… and not ‘that’.” I have seen, from my experience, that to keep the flame of your own ideas burning is very, very important. People around you, particularly when they are not of any help to you, have ideas to offer… ‘Do this and do that’… No Sir, we should only do ‘this’… T oday is Teachers' Day… I have been receiving scores of messages… obviously, very generous, very kind words. But, as Life teaches us to value things and people only later in life, many of my students have sent their touching t...