Gerald D'Cunha

  “Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Abraham Lincoln   T he August month has just started today. Someone from our family sent this beautiful prayer early in the morning…     G ratitude and humility… Yes, these two – if not present in our prayers – it is difficult to find our simple joy in life. Out of gratitude, we thank for the gift of life… for every blessing showered upon us. Out of humility, we seek guidance, help, protection, and grace… So, what else is needed to pray? But, then, I wonder: Is not a month a long time? Why not ask God to help, guide and protect through this day – just this day? ‘Just for today’ is not just another phrase… It carries the key for our happiness and peace… This day… Just this day. One day, at a time… Yes, if we are able to sail through this day with gratitude and humility, tomorrow will be another day… Gratitude and humility will be needed tomorrow as well… They will be needed for the...

F or most of us, one of the hardest things to do is to accept the idea that we are dispensable... That, without us, the world can function perfectly well…  Life can go on perfectly well, as well. On this July 24, my wife and I decided to quietly celebrate my 58 th birthday in Pune, with Kenrick, our only son and Dr. Deepak, our close friend. What surprised me, that day, was a very simple fact I had not noted all these years, but Dr. Deepak pointed out. He said, “You are born on ‘twenty four/seven’!” “Gosh! I did not know that!” I exclaimed… “It’s okay,” Dr. Deepak calmed me down in his inimitable way, “You know it now.” W hen do we use the phrase – ‘Twenty four/seven’? A lot of truth is packed in it… The mind is so addicted to thoughts and habits… that to live without those thoughts and habits seems impossible. The thoughts, mostly of negative nature … worry and anxiety, fear and clinging… fear of losing… insecurity, doubt, jealou...