....contd......
All
these years, I hadn’t put on any effort in the direction of being disciplined. Whatever
discipline I had I was haughty about it and belittled others if they didn’t
have it. But what about ‘good habits’ that I didn’t have?
So
before quitting I should make sincere effort first!
We
were still in this topic when Madhu joined us. She shared her experience to
support the quotations.
“I
was well past 40’s when I decided to learn classical dance. I was the oldest in
the class – obviously. It took really lots of mental strength to stand along
with tiny bundle of energies in the age group of 6-11 years. Honestly speaking I
felt a bit ashamed too!
But
I thought, I had ‘life situations’ that didn’t let this ‘desire’ of mine to
find expression. If not now, never! I worked on my fear of ridicule and
attended the class with tiny tots. Contrary to my belief, these kids were very
helpful. I had presumed their behaviour based on the behaviour based on the
behaviour of people in 20’s or 30’s age group. But these kids were very warm
and totally non-judgemental. I was principal of a reputed school and so was
used to having students being afraid of me all these years and now seeing them
being so open and friendly was welcoming. I had so much to learn from this students
or kids by way of conduct and attitude! 
Every
day, every part of my body ached and every day I decided to quit. But the kids
would say “same thing happened to us initially. Don’t worry, it’ll go away”. Their
promise to meet me ‘tomorrow’ forced me to attend just one more class. My pains
didn’t go away completely. Body does remember its age though I don’t. But, mind
longs to try and experience the joy of learning every day. My mind has won over
body since then. And today I am glad I didn’t quit. Yes, it took me longer to
learn ‘one single step’. So what? I was not time bound. For once, I was
learning for joy, for the joy of learning. I wasn’t marks-oriented in my
approach. Even my mistakes brought smile on my lips. When body said ‘enough’, I
listened to my mind saying ‘just once more’ and am I glad? Today, I am part of
dance performance conducted by my master.
So,
I would say ‘Quitters never win and winners never quit”. It was so easy for me
to quit and give up! No one would’ve found fault with it. I was answerable to
none. Yet, I didn’t. I was afraid if I quit ‘now’, it would be stuck with me
forever. And I was afraid my kids would quote me for quitting. I didn’t want
that to happen. More than anything, I didn’t let ‘quitting’ become my habit. I am
glad I stuck”
We
were inspired by her experience for sure! I for one was lazy to start something
new at this age – and what about failure. And isn't she a classic example of 'it's never too late to start learning anything good?'
...contd....
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