Thursday 28 July 2011

Why are successful people quitting so early?

Just recently movie lovers who knew Robbin Williams  were surprised, in fact shocked to learn that their favourite, funny, lively and versatile actor had decided to "opt out" of this life! I would say that his last act in the film called "Life," was the most surprising of all! A few years back, we were when we learned that Amy Winehouse was no more, and that she had died on the twenty-third of July in her own home. We all knew about the problems she had been facing. She had had a troubled marriage, she had a drugs problem, and an alcohol problem. Some years ago, the tabloids posted a picture of Amy Winehouse on their front pages of an Amy Winehouse who was literally starving and literally falling apart! Incidentally, Amy Winehouse was the winner of five Grammy awards in 2008!
A few years earlier, we read about how Anna Nichole Smith had died an untimely death, probably because of drug abuse! She had been a highly successful Hollywood actress who was slated to be a sensation in the world of acting! Marilyn Monroe died an untimely death on fifth August, 1962. She had been the victim of an unsettled childhood! James Dean was only twenty-four when he died in a high-speed car crash. The movies: East of Eden, and Giant fetched him Posthumous Academy Award nominations for best actor!Closer at home we all heard about the death of  +Viveka Babaji, Miss Mauritius World-2003. She was found hanging in her Mumbai flat on June 26, 2010! She had been facing problems in her love life!
Although these personalities might have belonged to different decades, nevertheless, they all shared similar qualities. They were young, they were extremely talented, they were extremely popular, and therefore, successful. They were icons for the young all over the world! So, then, why did they decide to quit? One thing becomes clear, it is very lonely at the top! When you become successful, you have greater expectations from others. When your expectations are not satisfied, then it causes disillusionment! Often, the person you love might not be as sincere as you thought! He or she might be hitching along just for the publicity, or to share the limelight, or perhaps to benefit from the hen that lays golden eggs! A realisation of the motives, and duplicity of one’s lover would cause immense disillusionment, forcing the person to slip in to depression. The Indian movie, “Page Three” highlights the short but brilliant lives of women in the modelling world. The world of success is as bright as a Magnesium Flare, but it goes out fast! Thus we have a tragic end in the movie when the model played by + Kangana Ranaut dies! The death of that model results from the rejections she begins to get from various fashion houses. The Glory is there, but then another comes to take your place and you lose your position at the top. This is heart-breaking for the model or the actress. It is very difficult to accept that your days are over, and that you should bow down with good grace. Unfortunately we humans cannot say no to the “good things in life” and we want more and more of them!
Perhaps this unusual phenomena might be explained by what Nietzsche, and Sartre and all the existentialists stated about life! Perhaps when a person reaches the pinnacle of fame and looks down, he sees nothing but a bleak and drab world to which he cannot return, and when he looks up, he realises that there is no more sky left! It is this realisation of being stuck in a gyre or a circle that makes one wonder if this life is after all worth it! Existentialism attempts to explain the meaning of life, and it suggests that we are all stuck in a circle, from which we can’t escape! The fame, attention, and glory that a superstar gets does not ultimately make him different from the common man because,they are both stuck in the cycle of life. Ultimately, the superstar who achieves success early in life might not have a reason to live for any more, because there is nothing more left to achieve. When an older person achieves success, then he is more wise, and more experienced, and he can just reminisce about his past struggle and even when he loses that glory, he can just relax and go into retirement gracefully! Alexander, before his death is said to have asked his men to leave his hands out of the coffin. He wanted to conquer the world, but Malaria conquered him. He probably wanted the world to know that although he had come into this world as Alexander The Great, but was leaving it empty handed, no better than a pauper!
If depression is the root cause of all these tragic deaths, then doesn't the world with all its scientific knowledge and technology have the wherewithal to address this problem? Just today I came to know that Robin Williams is no more! A tragic loss for the whole movie world, we will perhaps remember this versatile actor for his exceptional roles in Mrs. Doubtfire and Jumanji! Although not so young at the time of his death, for Robin Williams was 63, I still feel that there was much more to life for him, if he had decided to hang on!


Sunday 17 July 2011

Adolescence-Challenges before Parents and Teachers in schools of India

 

Adolescence is without doubt one of the most important transitional stages in the life of every human being. The reason why I call adolescence a transitional stage is because, an adolescent is neither a child nor an adult! Children view the adolescent as one of them and they wonder why bhaiya (elder brother) or didi (elder sister) is no longer playing with them. Elders, parents and teachers remonstrate with the adolescent for being absent-minded,and careless. Little do they know that the adolescent might be preoccupied and trying to come to terms with his or her  sexual, psychological, physiological, and, hormonal changes. The growth of hair on the face in boys, a moustache and a beard, the change in the pitch of the voice, the growth of a bust in girls, gaining of weight, growth of hips, and the monthly periods are all confusing moments for adolescents. This confusion could be lessened if the parents talked to their children counselled them, and told them about proper hygiene! Parents however find it difficult to talk to their growing children about the  sexual, hormonal and physical changes taking place. Parents blame it on prudery, propriety and shame which they themselves feel in discussing issues related to the adolescence  with their children.

When a child enters into  adolescence he or she begins to build up a new character which will be his final character till the end. The adolescent would become either extremely introverted, or extroverted. Garrulousness, noisiness, forming up of gangs, mood swings, and destructiveness would no doubt,cause both parents and teachers a great deal of anxiety. Teachers end up calling such students as problem children, useless students, and good for nothing! In schools of Delhi, adolescents quickly form into groups and act as a single unit (no wonder there are incidents of so called gang wars, where groups of students clash with each other). Loners become subject to bullying and teasing by groups. Adolescents start deciding what is hep, and what is not. The leaders of the groups in schools set trends which are followed by their friends. Justin Bieber is a hero for adolescents in Delhi. It is fashionable to smoke, it is fashionable to drink beer, and the leader also tries to set the pace of teaching in class. Silly questions, funny remarks are passed to irritate the teacher because the students don’t want to learn during that period. All this could have been avoided if only the teacher had been approachable enough and alert enough to see that his students are bored and need change!

In Haryana also, adolescents have the same issues as their brothers in Delhi, and parents and teachers face the same problems. The only difference is that in rural Haryana, anonymity is unheard of , so  everyone is aware about what the children are doing outside school, or inside school.Unlike in Delhi, the anonymity of the metro stations, multiplexes, and shopping malls does not exist!  Justin Bieber might not be the cult figure for an adolescent in a rural town of Haryana but a cricket player, be it Dhoni or Tendulkar or a film star would be common to both adolescents in Delhi or a rural town in Haryana. It goes without saying that this is an impressionable stage for the child and he is quick to identify with his or her cult figure! Teachers who are tactful, understanding approachable and have a firm knowledge of their subjects can also be idols for their students.

The challenge before the parents and teachers is to be patient and tactful with adolescents. Harshness, distance unapproachability and insensitivity are bound to create problems as far as handling adolescents is concerned. The ability to be a good listener, empathy, along with some strictness is a valuable character trait is a good teacher or parent. In India where there is a shift from a joint family system to a nuclear family system, the child needs to be given time by the parents. In nuclear families where both parents go out to work, the child might not be getting enough time with his or her parents resulting in further alienation between the parents and the child. Often this results in the adolescent resorting to bullying other children in class, or perhaps being noisy in class, or even disrupting the lesson being taught in class. Such a child  is, in effect, crying out for help, he needs attention and guidance which he is not getting at home. It is here that the teacher steps in as a mentor and a guide. The good teacher is after all a second parent. Often, it is by setting an example of hard work and honesty that the teacher will endear himself to the teenager!

The challenges before everyone are great, but not insurmountable. The advent of the Information Technology age has brought with it both advantages and disadvantages. Easy access to porn sites, wide spread circulation of objectionable material on multi-media cell phones, lack of supervision of adults when children access the internet, have all added to the confusion of the adolescent.  Being bombarded with vast amounts of information (most of it useless) is a matter of concern. The adolescent might not be able to sift through information on the net, and so he might need adult supervision. In this age of Information explosion, the adolescent is spoilt for choice! The adolescent is not yet an adult, and he still needs guidance. He or she needs to be told that steroids are not the best way of achieving his film star’s six pack abs! The child has to be told that excellence in education is as important and excellence in sport. Gregariousness and promiscuity are important emerging character traits in the adolescent.Being an impressionable age, the adolescent is quick to adopt a role model. It is important therefore that the child is exposed to only those role models who are really outstanding and worth following. In fact, it wouldn’t be wrong to state that even parents and teachers can become role-models for their children if only they took care to be really honest and sincere!

Parents should take interest in learning about the kind of company their children keep. It is important to communicate with your children.The instilling of sound moral values, teachings from the scriptures, contact with grand parents, teaching of respect for others, all play an important role in shaping the life of an adolescent! While the teaching of sex-education might be frowned upon at the school level, the teaching of moral values, teachings from the scriptures, and loads of co-curricular activities in school might do wonders for the adolescent!

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Kaboom-A Poem




The people rush down the road,eager to reach home.
A  young  mother   carries  pastries  for  her  little  one,
An older man, carrying  bundles of worry rushes home
Two girls, giggling and skipping carry purchases home!
A college boy lost in thoughts about a girl, walks home.

The world erupts suddenly, earth, flesh, iron, with a bang!
The  tableaux,  frozen  for  a  split , limbs, arms, all wrong,
Fixed in a grimace of pain and anguish of a life cut so short!
The scream rents the air of a thousand souls crying what
They  had done to deserve  such a rude and violent  end!

A thousand dreams cut short, pastries scattered, and
Romance brought short by a bang, a bomb placed by
A man so depressed, that he would cut short dreams of
Thousands, a man so  empty of emotion that he’d be an
Automaton controlled by others, becomes part of all of it!

The world wakes up ,
Moment later, more sad and grieved,
Wiser, but anguished.

This a world where
The innocent bear the brunt of hate,
Lives cut short!

The little child weeps on for a mother who will never
Come, the promise of pastries vaporised by a bang!
The dream of a lovely girl in college remains a dream.
The giggles of the girls  lost in  a moment  of cruelty!
This is  a world  ending not in a bang, but a whimper!

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Thursday 14 July 2011

The Impact of Terrorism - A model article for grade twelve CBSE students

The concept of terrorism can be defined as the means of achieving goals through the spread of terror blood shed, destruction of innocent lives and destruction of property. The goal of terrorism is to create havoc and panic, to draw the attention of the whole world towards a particular issue - political or social. Some of the well known terrorist organisations  happen to be the I.R.A. (which has been disbanded), the Shining Path organisation, L.T.T.E., the Jaish e’ Mohammad, the Taliban, Lashkar e’ Tayeba, Al-Qaeeda, Indian Mojahadeen and ISIS, to name a few. Some of the audacious attacks carried by terrorist organisations include, the Nine Eleven attack on the World Trade Centre in America, the December attack on the Parliament of India, (incidentally the World’s largest Democracy) the Beslan school attack in Septmber 2004,  (that left 704 injured and 394 dead) the attack on a theatre in Moscow carried out by the Chechnyan separatists, the Balli night club attack in Indonesia, the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, terrorist attacks in Delhi and Jaipur…and so on. What is common in all these attacks is that many innocent lives were lost and of course, there was unimaginable damage to property. These attacks caused  pain and suffering, a trauma that lives on even today in the minds of people.
The attack on the World Trade centre with the crashing of hijacked planes into the twin towers in New York  on September 11, 2001, was audacious enough! News channels all over the world showed the two planes crashing into the buildings, there were painful images of the injured and the dead; the images of the towers crumbling into pieces was graphic ecnough. The hijacking of the Indian airlines plane from Kathmandu to Kabul raised the hackles of everyone. The scenes of mutilated bodies of tourists in the Bali night club bombing sent a shiver up the spine. The audacious attack on the Indian parliament on the 13th. of December, 2001, raised questions on the preparedness of the Government in tackling terrorism, the bombings in Jaipur, and the bombings in popular shopping spots in Delhi on 29 October, 2005 brought home the pain and suffering that terrorism can wreak on the lives of the common man. The attack on the Akshardham temple questioned the conscience of the terrorists, the attack on the Taj Hotel, the Oberoi Hotel, the attack on Nariman House in Mumbai on 29 November, 2008, cast a sense of horror and helplessness in the hearts of the common man. The terrorist attack on innocent school children in the school in Beslan brought us  a glimpse of the depravity of terrorists who are ready to kill innocent school children. Yesterday’s terrorist bombings in Mumbai have once again raised questions on our preparedness in tackling terrorism. The daring attack on the USS Cole, and the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kenya has proved to us that even the most powerful nation is not safe from attacks by terrorists!
Terrorism seems to have become a monsterous Hydra -  no matter which head you crush, another takes its place. The recent killing of Osama Bin Laden seems not to have affected a serpent with so many heads. The bombings which took place in Mumbai, on the 13th  of July 2011 marked the birthday of Ajmal Kassab, the only terrorist of the Mumbai attack apprehended by the Indian security agencies. It shows that terrorism is very much alive in India, as also the whole world. The whole world needs to be well prepared to fight terrorism. This can be possible only through sharing of intelligence. The disbanding of the IRA proves that negotiations, discussions, and resorting to the negotiating table can solve a lot of problems and grievances. In cases where solutions cannot be arrived at, Governments have tried to freeze banking accounts of terrorist organizations. Imposing of economic sanctions on terrorist organisation, and nations supporting and promoting terrorism has helped. Finally, when all these steps fail, powerful nations have resorted to the military solution by attacking terrorist camps with missiles and bombs.
The fact remains that terrorism is a serious issue before us today; it threatens to destabilize the world's economy. We need to tackle this problem before it overwhelms us! The loss of innocent human lives cannot be condoned at any cost! We need to explore various options for curing this disease before it overwhelms us. Negotiations continue to be the best alternative, although the imposition of economic sanctions followed by military strikes have been resorted to as the last option. Terrorist camps continue to be run, and various schools are being run which are running a campaign of  hatred for fellow humans. This campaign of hatred is spreading a poison which is deadly and highly potent.  A disillusioned, and unemployed youth is more liable to fall prey to ruthless campaigns for spreading hatred towards others!

The kidnapping of six foreign tourists in the summer of 1995 in Kashmir 'Changed the face of Modern Terrorism' forever according to Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark, the authors of the rather explosive real life thriller, 'The Meadow'. This is a wonderful book, which I suggest everyone should read. Terrorism continues to be a a constant threat under which we are all living. With the world becoming even more fragmented and polarized, the chances  of resorting to the gun and the bomb for every small act of omission or commission have become real.

Some must reads on the topic of Global Terrorism are given below:

1. The Meadow (Penguin Edition) by Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott Clark
2. No Easy Day (Penguin Edition) by Mark Owen
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Saturday 9 July 2011

Is the reading habit finally out?

One can wax emotional about the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drews, Enid Blytons that one used to read during one’s childhood, but the bitter fact remains that today, children are simply not interested in reading! It is considered quaint, old fashioned, and perhaps even looked down as a habit! Many of us would have cut our teeth on Aesop’s Fables, Tales from the Panchtantra or even 101 Arabian Tales in our childhood. After reading these books, one would have graduated to Hardy Boys, and Enid Blytons. A serious reading would lead the adventurer to books by Jack London, Cry of the Wild being one, and then one would move on to books by R.L.Stevenson. A long time ago, Robinson Crusoe, Treasure Island would be treasured books. The serious reader would go on to books by E.E.Nesbit, and move on to Sir Henry Rider Haggard, King Solomon’s Mines,  She,  and The Return of She being some titles I still remember! Books by J.R.Tolkien would have been most coveted with The Return of the ring, and The Hobbit being prized possessions!

I remember that when I was a child, my parents would eagerly read the books that I borrowed from the British Council Library in Addis Abeba. When I was studying in the Arba Minch Comprehensive High School earlier, there was a wonderful school library from where I got my dose of books. Often I would eagerly wait for my father to come back from school with the books that I had requested him to borrow on his card. When he came empty handed sometimes because he hadn’t got time to go to the library, I became disappointed!

Now I have children of my own, and I have observed that they are not as interested in reading as I was as a child and still am! The burden of studies, Home Work, Projects, Entrance Exams, the Rat race, and cut-throat competition have all taken their toll. The spread of the T.V. culture, Internet, the Electronic Media have all edged out the Print Media, making it less popular. Perhaps it is easier to watch a film Titled Lord of the Rings because the whole story can be wound up in just one or two hours. Reading the same book would take days! Has all the technological advancement made our children lazy? The answer to this question is yes. When children are given a project which entails reading a particular book and writing a book review, they just log on to the Internet and get a ready made summary to copy from!

Internet and T.V. have made things so easy for children that they no longer have to go through an entire book. In a world based on the Instant Coffee Approach, it is not surprising that Reading as a hobby or pass time, or as a habit is definitely out of fashion! I guess I am old fashioned and thus quaint, but I will still stick to reading and watch news on T.V. besides Discovery History, and Nat.Geo.! It wouldn’t be wrong, therefore, that the age of the print media, or the age of the novel have finally given away to the age of Information Technology. In an age where there is an exponential dissemination of information and the quantum of information doubles and triples in an arithmetical progression I guess, books are on their way out! Reading a book requires time and leisure, which our children lack. So, I guess, the I.T. age has spelled the death-knell of reading as a habit and a pass-time. Book lovers are therefore a dying breed, and they should bow out gracefully to the internet junkie and the Couch Potato!

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Success, but at what Cost? Doping ruins the Image of the Nation and much more!

 

The recent story about Indian women athletes who participated in the Common Wealth games allegedly failing  tests for doping   has cast a cloud of gloom on their achievements. It is unfortunate that athletes knowingly or unknowingly consume anabolic steroids just in order to enhance their performance in international sports. In some cases, the coach deliberately feeds his pupils, steroids. The use of banned substances by athletes might grant success but at what cost?

Use of performance enhancing drugs and equipment goes against the spirit of sportsmanship, because it is unfair, and puts other athletes at disadvantage! When an athlete fails a dope test, then it exposes him or her to immense sense of shame and he becomes a victim of ridicule! A headline appearing in the Hindustan Times Newspaper on the 9th. of July reads,“ Three athletes fail 2nd test, face two-year ban”.

It is unfortunate that banned substances, performance enhancing drugs, and anabolic steroids continue to be sold without valid prescriptions by pharmacists all over the country. Aspiring body builders, fans of six-pack abs, and all those who want to impress consume these substances without realising the long term implications! Continued use of steroids leads to various harmful complications. The side-effects of using anabolic steroids far out-weigh their benefits!

In Patiala,according to The Times of India (July 8), “the chemists were there selling steroids for ages. It was an open secret that national-level athletes were buying illegal supplements from these outlets for many years.” If banned substances are so freely available over the counter, then how much more will our youth resort to substance abuse in order to enhance their appearance?

If diet supplements contain steroids in the guise of vitamins and minerals, then this is another matter of great concern. It seems as if we need to give more attention to sports medicine and allied fields of sports. It should be mandatory for athletes at the National Level to be constantly monitored by qualified Sports Medicine Practitioners. Public Awareness campaigns should be launched to educate the public about the side-effects and harms related to the consumption of Steroids and other harmful substances!

It is unfortunate that in our hunger for success at all costs we are resorting to short cuts, and illegal means for achieving our targets. Some how, in sports we are fixated by the possibility of winning Gold as nothing else will do. In our obsession for gold we have forgotten the sportsman spirit, where, winning is not everything. Some unscrupulous coaches do not hesitate in feeding their pupils with steroids, but at what cost? National Shame?

 

 

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Thursday 7 July 2011

Some more of my Favourite Photographs

Somehow you might be able to capture the essence of the moment by taking a photograph, but often it happens that the best photographs are those that you have not taken, they are in your mind, intact with the scent, brush of air, and the sense of excitement! Nevertheless, if you think you have taken a great photograph, you would return to it every now and then. suffice it to say that a photograph might capture a moment in time, but perhaps not all of it. Given below are some photographs, which I feel like returning to.

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The beauty of the last rays of the sun escaping through the cloud seems to give the above snap a rather surreal feel. The microwave towers resemble rockets about to be launched into space. There seemed to be a rather science fiction like feel to the scene so I decided to capture it!

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The distortion of the rising sun seemed so awe inspiring that I had to click it!

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This snap was taken at the Assan wetlands. You can see the web clinging on to the petals! The yellow colour seems rather eye-catching!

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this snap too is of a flower taken at the Assan Wetlands. The white colour seemed to be rather compelling!

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In this snap, also taken at the Assan Wetlands, I had a tough time getting a good focus!

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This snap taken on extreme zoom suggests a person sitting on a chair. In fact it is an empty chair!

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They say, “every cloud has a silver lining!”

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Crystal ball crystal ball, what has the future for me?

 

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The Epiphany Church is a beautiful building!

 

Kanheri Caves

The Kanheri Caves in Mumbai are ancient. They functioned as aqueducts, they helped channel rain water.

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The Gateway of India-Mumbai continues to draw a large number of tourists from all over India and the world.

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And so the toy train twists and turns while travelling from Shimla to Kalka!

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The Town Hall, Shimla is a colonial style building.

 

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Tuesday 5 July 2011

The Lost Son-A poem


He sits alone waiting for a son lost to him. Sadness,
Written deep  on a  face,  wizened, with the weight
Of ages past. He would forgive him if only he’d ask!
But,  he, lost  to the  pleasures  of the world, forgets
One,  who   made  him,  waiting   for  him to  return!

The years pass, and the son  loses all to Lethe, a
Beggar in  tattered  rags.The victim, of torment, of
Those who mock  him! He becomes  the keeper of
Sows. Through Sadness  that  surrounds  him. A
Memory of one, who  fed him  the  feast of Kings!

He sets out on the journey of reconciliation, the road
Difficult, beset with rocks and thorns. The father waits
Still, for the lost lamb to return.Sighting him, whom he
He   loved, he is  filled  with Joy, and  orders  a feast!
The son falls into father’s arms weeping  repentance.

If only they had dropt their egos, wouldn’t they have
Come   to this, but a joyful re-union buries all wrongs!
But, only  to  say I am  sorry,  those  magical   words,
Would  have   buried hatchets sharp and cruel! Have
Repentance in your heart, and  sure he’ll forgive you!

So returned the lost lamb to  the fold of  warmth and joy!
To  do  so  required   strength    of will, and  courage - to
Bury ego  and  pride, to  be humble,  and  forgive. So, to
Return  to  the  fold ,  when  the  night   is  nigh, give  joy
Countless    to   the   one   lamb   that  strayed   at night!

To forgive requires courage and  understanding while
To return, to beg  forgiveness requires strongest will!
What greater treasure is there than to recover the lost
Seed, that was sown amongst the weeds, to gather to
The  fold, the   son that  was lost  and is now returned!

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Saturday 2 July 2011

It's not by might, it's not by power but by my Spirit says the Lord!

The words of the hymn, “Its not by might, its not by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord” ring deep and true in today’s context of cut throat competition, stress, and countless failures. No wonder disillusionment sets in  when you face one failure after another. What we don’t realise is that it is not by our own might, nor by our own power that we can achieve success but rather it is through the Spirit says the Lord. We need to realise that it is not through our own wisdom, but rather through the Almighty Lord’s Wisdom that we can overcome difficulties and accomplish difficult tasks! Unfortunately we think we can overcome mountains through our own abilities only!

A prayer by an unknown author reads as follows:

God you provide us with wisdom when we are

confused; strength when we are weak…God

be in my head, and in my understanding;

God be in my eyes, and in my looking; God be

in my mouth and in my speaking; God be in

my heart, and in my thinking!

 

And so as the words in the prayer suggest, it is only when God becomes the driver of our lives that we might achieve some semblance of success in climbing mountains of difficulties! This is specially true when you have a vocation or a calling in life. Often, faced by deadlines, difficult targets, and competitions we put in all our effort, might, power, and experience, and yet come out losers. This is because in our struggle for success we might have forgotten the simple fact that to succeed, we need the Almighty Lord’s Wisdom.

Often, faced by a succession of failures we tend to become distraught, disillusioned, hopeless, despairing, and we lose faith in the Almighty Lord. This is exactly something to be avoided! Life, they say is not a bed of roses! It was never meant to be as such! To live a life without struggle or hardships is not to live at all! We die when all hardships and difficulties end! To be burdened by difficulties and to collapse means failure, but to move forward in spite  of burdens means to succeed!

Life in the Old testament was difficult! The problem before Moses was to lead a great mass of Hebrews from Sinai to Canaan. To make things even more difficult was the fact that Moses had never travelled beyond Mount Sinai! Moses thought  Jethro was the best answer to the problem in hand. Thus when Jesus said, (Matt. 6.34), “Moses seems to make a mistake when he tried to substitute a man (Jethro) for God-the present for the future, for who can be a substitute for God? Those who trust in the Lord need not be afraid…”. Fortunately God took lead and delivered Israel to Canaan! According to St.Paul, “if we have hope only in this world we are of all men most miserable”. It is not just hope in this world that grants us success. Worldly power, might, and even talent are not enough to grant you success, you need God’s wisdom too! Christ alone can lead us safely on! Have faith!