THE FEAR THAT HOPES TO STAY ANONYMOUS

 



“At the heart of all anger, all grudges, and all resentment,

you’ll find a fear that hopes to stay anonymous.”

Donald L. Hicks

 

“How’s is your health?”… a woman asked me, gently, a while ago.

I had many options to choose my reply from: “Not so good”… “Doctors say this and that”… “Reports say this and that”…

Well, these kinds of responses come quite easily… Complaints immediately draw sympathy, you see. And - we may not like to admit it – we long for sympathy from others.

But, then, if I had replied to the question – “How’s your health?” – saying, “It’s Great!”… that’s not the truth either. Telling someone your health is ‘Great’, when it’s actually not, is a lie. You are deceiving not only others, but also yourself.

So, this morning, I, instantly, replied to the woman, when asked gently – “How is your health?”, “It’s good, no complaints.”

The woman, who asked me the question, seemed impressed by my rejoinder - “No complaints”, and said, “I like that phrase. Complaints eat us from within,” she said, “they don’t allow us to experience the simple joy of life.”





Where does our habit of complaining – I am talking about chronic habit – come from?

Every time we complain, we try to fix the blame on someone else out there, including God… Yes, someone out there is responsible for our problems, our miseries – that’s what every chronic complainer tries to say… Is it not so?

It’s blame… the blame game!

And, till the time we keep playing this game of blame, we keep experiencing that feeling of victimhood – the feeling of being inside a prison… It doesn’t allow us to experience the blessings and goodness in our lives…

When we keep resentment about anything and anyone – we suffer.

There is no cure for this suffering…

The only cure, apparently, is to recognize the faceless fear behind our resentment, and let go of it, and let peace in…

And, we need to do this not for the sake of the other person, against whom we hold our resentment… It’s for our own peace of mind, our own joy and freedom.

So, can you hear the gentle question: “How’s your health?” … Yes, “How is Life?”

“Life is good, Sir… No complaints”… Nothing to complain about, no one to blame for… In fact, a lot to thank for, a lot to celebrate.

Blame, resentments and anger – all these dissolve when we care for our soul. No one is responsible for the suffering of our soul… except our reluctance to make peace with our past…

The early we realize this, the better for us…




“As smoking is to the lungs, so is resentment to the soul,” says Elizabeth Gilbert, “Even one puff is bad for you.”

Let’s stop puffing…

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s: Pixels 1. Aleksandr Balandin  2. Sebastian V.

Video: Motivational Instinct

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

Image
Pic.; Ashwin Mohta M y Hindi was always bad. It still is. One reason for this was, that they introduced Hindi for us only in 6 th standard. Or, was it in 8 th ? I don’t remember… I only remember struggling to write and read… leave alone speak! But, I loved Hindi movies, and, strangely, I could understand the dialogues and the lyrics of the songs… I used to sing those songs (of course when no one was around me!) as if I was the lyricist… One of the songs was a very funny one. ‘Muthu Kodi Kawari Hada’. It was from Mehmood’s super-hit comedy – ‘Do Phool’. I was a 15-year-old high-school boy when I had heard that song (not watched the movie). I could grasp the meaning of two words – ‘Muthu Kodi’… which meant ‘Give kiss’… But, what ‘Kawari Hada’ meant, I have no clue till date! It was just like ‘Why this kolaveri di’... Yes, why ask? Simply enjoy the beats… And, the beats are great… The rest... Who cares? Really! So, whatever bit of Hi...
Read more

SELLING MIRRORS IN THE CITY OF THE BLIND

Image
“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.” - Kabir T here is a universal human weakness – and it dates back to the days of fallen civilizations – and it is: to place people on pedestal and trying to be smothered by them, feel loved and protected in their company… worship them as mentors, heroes,  gurus, Mahagurus and Satgurus… Make these mortals larger-than-life cut-outs, worship them as flawless, pure and give one’s all… And, then, ‘take’ everything from them blindly as divine… Give everything to them blindly… Eventually, what happens is:  one more dangerous bondage… What was supposed to free you now becomes a new prison… It’s sad to see this happen! T his room, where I am writing this Post, has no image of any deity. I have no image of any Guru or Master around me… My question is: “Am I not able to feel close to Almighty God?  How ...
Read more

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE AREN'T THINGS

Image
  “ A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.” Henry David Thoreau   I remember feeling the strongest, the most confident and secure – when I had decided to knock on strangers’ doors, telling them, “I want to teach young boys and girls.” That’s when I was just 20-something… I was a newcomer in this big city… consumed with the desire to teach… and restless. I was jobless and penniless, too. The earlier evening, TC had caught me ticketless at Mankhurd railway station, which, in those days, was the last Harbour-line station. The next local arrived only after 45 minutes… and the fine for a ticketless passenger from VT (now CST) to Mankhurd was a ‘princely’ sum of ten rupees and fifty paise! And, I had nothing in my pocket to pay the TC and get off his hook. Nor did I possess a wrist watch or a ring to pledge as security till I could arrange the fine amount. But, that evening, when I went through some forty-five minutes of embarr...
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...