Gerald D'Cunha

  “We act out of courage; we react out of fear.” Aegelis Sophizo   A n emotionally-charged mind doesn’t think rationally… Objective thinking – based on reason – is possible only when emotions are kept under check… Our reactive behaviour is a classic example. When we react from anger, hatred, envy, fear and insecurity, it’s not a rational behaviour… It stems out of our loss of self-control. The instinctive, caustic comments we make about others only leave us exposed… not others. Well, when you read what I have just said in the two paras above, it’s highly possible, that you may wonder, "What an enlightened soul this man is!” I wonder, too. But, thinking, why, despite knowing this truth, I have not been able to stop me from ‘reacting’ for every ‘silly’ situation, all my own life! Yes Sir, between our ‘knowing’ and ‘doing/practicing’, there is a ‘space’… Just as between the ‘stimulus’ and ‘action’ there is… Like many that read books or listen to people who impart ...

Pic.: Rachna Talreja Mukhi “IT IS BY CHOICE AND NOT BY CHANCES THAT WE CHANGE OUR CIRCUMSTANCES.”   ―   Nadia Sahari ,   A s it is said, our deeply-rooted habits do become our deeply-rooted nature. Our deeply-rooted nature shapes our personality... and, through our personality, we carve our own destinies... Today, in my early morning batch, when I caught myself complaining about my students – many of them had turned up, despite my daily ‘sermon’ on it, without doing their home-work, and many had turned up with shoddy-work – I, suddenly, realized that I was doing it more as a habit... It had become an instinctive response to the stimulus... That is, my students’ behavior had become the trigger to my reaction. In fact, the more I cribbed about it, the more irritated and stressed I found myself to be... And, suddenly, I could sense the power I had, unwittingly, handed over to my students to rule my peace of mind, my well-being...

Pic.: Mehul Bhuva I n 1990, THE DAWN CLUB had published a small book by the title – ‘The Zest’. It had carried some eighteen short and medium-sized passages written by me. The book instantly became one of our very popular books; and, eventually, it was reprinted several times. We guess, one of the main reasons for its popularity was that it spoke to the reader in ‘first person’… He felt as though he was talking to himself… a soliloquy. Yes, the reader could instantly connect to the voice in the book… and, the message simply seeped into his heart! In the coming Posts, I would like o proudly lead you through those simple yet inspiring voices… Here is the introduction and the first voice… L ife doesn’t come with guarantees. We live, full twenty-four hours, surrounded by challenges. And living amidst all these challenges and uncertainties, call for our emotional maturity, our mental toughness. It also calls for a burning hunger in our he...

Pic.: Mehul Bhuva “You are the most important person in this world. It is for you to make your life the way you choose to.” F irst thing first: You are not only an important person in this world… You are, in deed, ‘the most important’ person! But then, dear, take it in the right sense… feel it,   say it   and act on it in the right sense. Don’t feel or say it to undermine others… but do it to lift yourself up in life… In Life, you really, really come first… Your first responsibility is to love, care and nurse yourself enough… build yourself enough… trust yourself enough… Because, unless you believe, that you come first… unless you feel, that you are important… unless you feel, that you deserve joy, love and prosperity in life… you will not be able to experience them despite having them abundantly in your life. It is only when you feel joyful, successful and prosperous, that you are capable...