THE principal of the college looked at the little girl admiringly, “You failed throughout the year in Hindi and yet you’ve now come first in that same subject, how?” The little girl looked at the principal and smiled, how was she to tell her principal what her father had told her when she had gone home for her holidays, “work extra hard,” he had said one evening, “at the subject you are most weak in! It’s all in your mind, that you are weak at it!” She had and had excelled.
Says Arthur Gordon, “A college classmate of mine was a crack football player, noted particularly for his fierce tackling although he was much lighter than the average varsity player. I remarked to him that it was surprising that he didn’t get hurt.
“Well,” he said with a smile, “I think it goes back to something I discovered when I was a somewhat timid youngster playing football in school. In one game, I suddenly found myself confronting the opposing full back, who had nothing but me between him and our goal line”
“He looked absolutely gigantic!”
“I was so frightened, I closed my eyes and hurled myself at him like a panicky bullet, and stopped him cold. Right there I learned that the harder you tackle a bigger player, the less likely you are to get hurt. The reason is simple: momentum equals weight times velocity!”
To be sure there will be setbacks and disappointments in any such venture, but as someone said, the man who tries to do something and fails is a lot better off than the man who tries to do nothing and succeeds!
A few years ago, the world mourned the passing away of two Iranian sisters Ladan and Lelah Bijani on the operating table in Singapore, there were many who said they should not have taken such a risk. But did they know what it was to be joined together for twenty-nine years, when every single activity and private moment had to be shared by the two? When all that separated them from freedom was the fear of death. They conquered that fear.
To the world they are heroes.
They may have died but their courage will live for ever, and for ever be an inspiration for those who tackle what they fear the most. Is there something you are afraid to handle? A surgery? Change of career?
Start building yourself up to handle that particular problem. Like that little girl who scored in her weakest subject, or like the skinny football player who was a dynamo on the field, start ripping your fear to bits. Handle that fear head-on..! God cares and sends us courage, To put our fears to flight, For courage is Gods candle, That lights the darkest night.
—Email: bobsbanter@gmail.com
