I come across several occasions, when children during a consultation, would want to play with my stethoscope. I usually let them for the sake of fulfilling their curiosity. Sometimes children mention that they too want to become a doctor.
Most of children who come to me for a consultation are those with neuro-developmental needs which is their reality at hand. They struggle to learn, or have language difficulties, or are physically limited. It is occasionally I come across some children who feel 'disabled' by these challenges but many others are oriented differently. I welcomed a child yesterday, who has serious reading and writing difficulty, but has developed exceptional skills in drawing, music, percussion and playing foot ball.
This is the encouraging paradox. There can be several limitations or challenges, but most children do not give up their dreams or fail to turn a challenge in to an opportunity.
The caption I chose for this post is borrowed from an entrepreneur, who has called for a seminar to share his success story of pursuing a dream of his heart after dropping out of college. Sandeep Maheshwari is now into several creative initiatives and is well known for his innovative methods to make a difference socially. Now he wants to meet young people, who sense limitations in pursuing a dream, to tell them his experience of perseverance and determination. He conducts this seminar in Delhi on 20th October on a first come basis without charging any fees.
Some of us get stuck thinking of our difficulties,p failures or disappointments. Some others complain about the difficulties and blame others. There are many who have given up and live reduced lives. But there are some who are habituated to look beyond the reality at hand. They live with hope and communicate the call of life.
The Prime minster of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, mentioned yesterday, that 'there is too much negativism among us which freezes us into in action'. His suggestion was, life offers many opportunities.
Yesterday, my colleague and I spent time to encourage a family, whose elder daughter committed suicide recently after failing in one subject in the engineering examination, father is on regular renal dialysis and their son is developmentally disadvantaged. At the end of it, the mother mentioned, 'I go back with some hope'. Her first response was her willingness to let their son stay with a relative for a short while, who volunteered to care for him, so that she can return to her work to earn an income. She saw an opportunity.
Let me refer to a saying of Jesus of Nazareth, as a sign for us that hope will anchor us, 'In this world you will have troubles, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world'.
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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