A few years ago, I went with four of my friends to visit an old fort built hundreds of years ago at a place near Mumbai. From the bottom of the hill, it was a long and steep 1-hour walk through the forest with no clear path laid out. It was 9:30 in the morning when we reached the top of the hill – the entrance to the old fort. It was raining slightly. The fort had one of the most spectacular views I had ever seen. On the ground of the fort there was green grass surrounded by ponds filled with water, with cool breeze all over. With all the three elements of the life at the same place, it truly was a heaven on earth. We were roaming around when at around 10am the mist started to appear. Within minutes there was so much fog that we had no idea where we were and where we came from. Separated from my friends, I could only hear their voices from far apart. There was panic. Afraid yet confident that we will find the way out, we were able to trace our footsteps in the mist to finally to locate the entrance door and the way back home.
Mr. Toastmaster, fellow toastmasters and dear guests, how many times have you faced a situation where you found it difficult to locate the right path? Otherwise, how many times have you faced a situation where you failed, or where lost someone or something so dear you thought it was the end of life? That you found it was so very difficult to come out of it.
The great philosopher Aristotle has once said, “It is during our darkest moments when we must focus to see the light.”
The 16th and one of the most renowned Presidents of the United States of America – Abraham Lincoln had a rough life. His first love died when he was just 25 years old. He married and lost three sons before the boys could cross even their teens. He had a nervous breakdown and was defeated for 8 years before he finally became the President of the United States. And being the President, he led his country through the bloody civil war, became the first president to take the bold step of abolishing slavery, strengthened the national government and modernized the economy.
Abraham Lincoln who lost and failed so many times in his life went on to say, “My great concern is not whether you have failed but whether you are content with your failure.” It is not important whether you fail, but to accept failure as part of life.
A few days back I was watching an epic story – the Game of Thrones. In the story a nobleman’s handsome son had lost his fighting hand chopped off by an enemy during battle. The young man was very sad and depressed, almost on the verge of killing himself. It was then that his friend who was a common woman of the society reminded him of the brutalities of life. The girl whispered those thundering words in his ears which the nobleman’s son has never heard. The girl said, “You son of a nobleman, what do you know what it means to lose something or someone you loved the most. What do you know what loss truly means. The first time you have lost something meaningful in your life and here you are, crying like a baby; given up already? Be a man and show justice to your noble blood. You may have lost your hand but you have not lost your life. Rise and show your enemies what you are truly made of.”
Friends, let me tell you with certainty that what happened to the nobleman in the epic story, to Abraham Lincoln and to me with my friends will happen to you too. For some of you it may already have happened or be happening right now. Like it or not, you will face, and not just once but multiple times, situations in life where you feel it is the end. Where you have lost something or someone you truly and deeply loved. And it is not because life is unfair to you but because it simply wants to test you. And the test is so very simple. In those times, how much and to what extent can you believe that no matter what, there is always light at the end of the tunnel. The test is all about your belief that no matter how much the mist, the rays of the Sun will always shine showing you the path. And friends let me also tell you with certainty that the stronger your belief that the there is light, the sooner you will see the light.
“Life as it is happens to those who believe.”
So on this winter morning of the month of February, with the Sun and the Wind Gods as our witness, let us take a pledge. Let us pledge that no matter what life shows us, no matter what it makes us go through in our time here, we will always focus on the light at the end of the tunnel. It is going to be hard for when the dark time comes it is very easy to lose focus and it is for those testing times that this pledge will guide you. Take a pledge that no matter what comes through the door of tomorrow, we will always keep our eyes fixed on the happiness that we deserve, on the difference that we need to make, on the life that we want to live.
Take a pledge that I will embrace life as it happens. If it has to give the good, I will accept with open arms. If it has to give the bad, I give back the hell before it gives me that!
