A special memory:
The last time I had written down something was when my school principal called to say that our school is completing 25 years. On that occasion they were planning to come out with a magazine and she wanted me to write something for that. It was some 2 years back. New job, new struggles..but still i tried hard to honour her request...I didnt even have time to give a title to it..But sweet Sr. Jessy took care of it all.
Suddenly remembered it today morning. Went thru all my mail boxes but cud not find it anywhere. Then mailed a friend to ask whether by chance he had it in his mailbox somewhere. I remembered sending it to him for his suggestions. Luckily he had it and sent it to me with a curt reply: "Ofcourse I do have it, never delete your mails."
So here it goes:
I would like to tell you all a story. Some of you may have heard it, some may not have. It will prepare you for whatever thoughts I have decided to pen down.
A man once found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared; he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.
Neither happened! In fact the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly. What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were nature’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If nature allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we would have been. And we could never fly.
No matter who we are, where we are going, or where we have been, we all struggle. Everyone has his or her own private hell and battles. Everyone, at sometime or the other faces a gruesome moment, day-to-day trials of existence. Such is life, sometimes simple, sometimes complicated.
When we wake up with challenges, we wake up with choices to either overcome all that holds us down by going against what opposes us, or to continue sitting, suffering quietly in life’s cauldron of complexes, while at the same time surrendering ourselves to fear and failure. Life shifts, spins and relocates, as we do. We all have the ability to switch our fear of failure into an energy that overcomes any tribulations just as sure as we all have a spine. “If you go in search of honey, you must expect to encounter bees”. And bees….our world is buzzing with a legion of them. Every now and then, one hears disheartening stories of blood and sweat gone vain. Disappointments are customary in this world. Sometimes the struggle ends in victory, at other times, its endless. Sometimes the most difficult of beginnings lead to the best results.
Whether we're traveling from one side of the country to the other or just driving to the shopping center a few blocks away, most of us are anxious to get to our destination. We're annoyed when a stalled car holds up traffic or a light stays red longer than we think it should.
We don't like to be delayed in other areas of our lives, either. We want the fruits of maturity before we're able to digest them. When trials slow us down, we become annoyed. Yet the very trial that seemingly impedes our progress can be the instrument God uses to strengthen us, so that we may even be able to reach our goal more quickly than if God had cleared our path.
One thing is certain. Our trials will either destroy us or they will develop us. "Nothing that can come to one from any source can injure him unless it causes him to have a bad attitude." We can let God teach us through our trials, or we can let them turn us into bitter, unhappy individuals. It's up to us. What ever be the end result the journey should continue because the end we see is the beginning of another journey. Hence the failure we see as the ultimate end might be the beginning. When the sun sets on the horizon, it actually rises on the other side.
This is not something that I am writing purely for the sake of doing it. This is something that I have discovered in my own life. I have discovered that life is a little more complicated. Sometimes the path we embark on is not always the one we choose. Sometimes we are pushed or pulled in certain directions and we have to react to our environment. But I have always believed that if God answers our prayers, He is increasing our faith. If He delays, He is testing our patience and if He does not, He has something better lined up for us. This belief has helped me survive all the trials and tribulations; my short life has laid before me.
My path to a college education has been filled with bumps, potholes, detours and roadblocks. The signs often read "yield" and "do not enter." The path has not always been clear, but I've kept my eyes opened, focused on the road ahead, and the experience has made all the difference. But I have no complaints. Rather as said by Kahlil Gibran……I would not exchange the sorrows of my heart for the joys of the multitude. And I would not have the tears sadness makes to flow from my every part turn into laughter. I would that my life remain a tear and a smile.
I credit most of what I have achieved in my life to my initial formative years at my school and the love and guidance of my parents. Even now, after so many years, I feel that the days I spent at school are the best years of my life. I did everything that I could lay my hands upon at that time…studies, sports and extracurriculars…and tried to excel in all. A special thanks to all those who had been with me at that time…my teachers, my friends and the staff. They have given me a strong foundation on which I have been able to build what life I have now. This is the period when the potter of my life gave shape to the wet clay that I was. Never take these initial years for granted, for they will guide you at every point in life.
I am leaving you all with this thought:
In the path of our happiness, shall we find
The learning for which, we have chosen the lifetime
So it is that I have learned this day
Choose to leave you now…………..
To walk your own path, as you please.
