Strength of Mind

In the cacophony of life, each character, when translated into an adjective, becomes a relative term. Talk about “Strength”, especially of mind, and you will know there resides different levels of it in each individual’s life. We think of having strong minds because each day we find resolve or at least try to find one for our numerous problems. Our situations and dilemmas seem so big that overcoming them, no matter how trivial they are, makes us feel proud and we proclaim of being driven by a strong mind that helped us face the situation and overcome it. TRUE - only till our vision and perspective is limited to our own life. Get out of your life, look around; and you will learn there exists a different definition of strength that can make you re-think your problems and abilities to tackle them. We feel strong enough after tackling trivial issues at work, sustaining relationships, earning a comfortable living and many other mundane things.

This is what happened the other day, when I was doing my routine work in office, cribbing about morning tea, contemplating my career, cursing my fate for making me a part of a miser company, my failure to buy a home and everything else? I took pride in the fact that I had a strong mind because, in spite of a not having all the above I could control my emotions and thoughts and do my work, thoroughly. I had to send an email to a client about a project and while thinking all this, I pressed the send button. POP - “out-of-office reply”. Taking a sigh of frustration, I was just about to close the message when my eyes read the message “I am still undergoing Breast Cancer treatment and may take time in responding to your email”. I read the message at least thrice and it shook me. Shocked and stunned, I just thought I was never going to receive a reply, just then came her email on the project scope and the way forward. This really got me thinking, how could a person struggling with death each day lead such a normal life? It is not possible. I can not work in slightest fever and cough and she is working with a cancer. How is it possible for her to carry on a normal life along with the chemotherapy? While my mind rattled off these questions, answers started pouring in too. Strength, is to live life fully amidst the imbroglio, to smile even when in pain, to walk against the wind, to hold no grudges, to forgive, to not succumb to situations but harness possessions and fight back. That’s STRENGTH redefined for me.