Gerald D'Cunha

  “Whatever you fight, you strengthen; Whatever you resist, persists.” Eckhart Tolle   B ad things should not happen to me… Unpleasant experiences should not come my way… Life should be smooth, predictable. Am I alone in this kind of thinking? I am sure, I am not. Most of us know, that Life is not always smooth and predictable… We do experience bad things and have to deal with unpleasant experiences. Yet, we desperately fight and resist the unpleasant situations in our lives. While fight we should and resist we should, it’s wise to understand the difference between ‘Life and the Life-situations’. Eckhart Tolle, in his book, ‘The Power of Now’, beautifully explains the difference between Life and Life-situations. As the ‘Serenity Prayer’ does, he, too, encourages us to recognize the situations which we are able to change – fight and resist till we succeed, and the situations which we are not able to change… let go (our fight and resistance) and simply accept. ...

  “But, there was a difference between being stuck and choosing to stay. Between being found and finding yourself.” Martina Boone O ur compulsions and our commitments are not same. Yet, if we aren’t mindful, our commitments can easily become our compulsions. I, sometimes, forget this truth and put myself under unnecessary mental pressure. Commitment to my plans and ideals are what go in making me a fine, efficient and trustworthy person. But, unless I re-examine my commitments, time to time, yes, they can become my compulsions and cause unnecessary stress in my life… Nothing is perfect in Life. No plan is foolproof. Loyalty doesn’t come with a guarantee. Health can cheat us, no matter how cautious we try to be. Our children are not our possessions. Our work is not our Life… It’s just a part. And, we all know how important money in Life is. But, we also know this: our inner security doesn’t depend on the money in our Bank… The deep understanding in our hearts, that we wi...

I loved what our Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray, said in his message, yesterday. In his composed tone, he advised the citizens of his state, Maharashtra – and, particularly of this mega city of Mumbai – to focus on what we could do, in a positive manner, from inside our doors. For, that’s within our control. What’s outside our doors was outside our control… Yes, we all are concerned about the situation outside, today…   We all are anxious, worried and scared. Yes, we all are… and, it’s understandable. But, let’s be a little rational and ask: “Do we have control on things outside our doors? Can we really control them?” If not – and, it is not – why do we spend so much time and energy focusing on such things? Are we not losing our own power apart from our sleep? Are we not ruining others’ sleep and diminishing their power as well? Stephen covey illustrated this phenomenon through two circles. He named the inner circle as the circle ...

“It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” ―  William Ernest Henley ,  Echoes of Life and Death; I s man really the master of his fate and captain of his soul? When I first came across this famous poem of Henley, I was in my early twenties… Hot blood ran through my veins and I would assume that I possessed within me the power to stop the sunset… Yes, just like Lord Krishna did in Kurukshetra ! This was also the time, when I came across another motivational war-cry from Vince Lombardi: “Winners never quit and quitters never win...” Today, after almost four decades and many, many heart-burns, I have come to the conclusion, that Man, being human, can do only so much to alter his fate… Yes, only so much. There are so many problems in my life, I have simply not been able to solve with the best of my intentions and efforts. Those problems, now, ...