Despite our  faults  and the errors we commit in our lives, we are very lovable creatures  and important to society writes  Colin Savio Coelho

While we go about our lives, we often face many situations.  Some are happy ones, but some leave us with some remorse and an upset mind. style='mso-spacerun: yes'>   Many questions then keep popping up.  Am I important?  Am I good?  These are some common questions that keep cropping up in our minds time and time again.  What are the answers to these touchy queries we have?

 Bad Boy ?

Thomas was known to be a troublemaker wherever he went.  He was clumsy and mischievous and had to cause trouble either by breaking something delicate or by teasing the other children around.   Everyone was fed-up at his behavior and would look towards him and say, 'Thomas you are a bad boy.  You do bad things and will always be a bad boy.'  

 Poor Thomas believed that he was a 'bad boy' and thought himself to be bad.  He lost confidence in himself and started feeling that there was something wrong with him, while all the others around him were good people.  His attempts at being a 'good boy' failed as whatever he did could not please the elders who mattered to him.

Eventually, Thomas spoke about this to his teacher who knew how precious this little boy was.   The teacher told him, 'Thomas, you were teasing your sister yesterday and that is not a very nice act. 

Your action was not a good one but that does not make you a bad boy.   You can learn from this mistake, especially since you now realize that what you did was not very pleasant.'  His teacher tried to bring the confidence back into the talented Thomas.   Within a few interactions with his teacher, Thomas changed for the best.

 To Err Is Human…

We are human and it is this very word that makes us fallible.  We need to make mistakes and we need to learn from them.   If we don't learn from the mistakes we make, it will always remain a mistake and will never help us in our growth.

Spread Love

Love is a much oft spoken word in the world today.  If we have love in this world, we would not have wars.   We would not have tensions between countries. It is our responsibility to spread love.  We must realize though, that we cannot love one another without first loving ourselves.   We have to consider ourselves 'good' so that we can love ourselves more.  After this, we need to spread that love around.   Loving is the joy of living that comes about from our acts of kindness, our free giving and concern for our brethren. 

Create Awareness

'We heard about problems affecting many of our Goans around Goa ,' Michelle announced to her mother.  She wanted to be part of fighting against these evils that threatened her fellow Goans.  She heard of a problem that was a concern of villagers close to their place.    'Mama what can we do to support our friends,' she asked her mother.  Her mother hesitated, 'Michelle, that problem does not affect us at all.   It is in the next village.'  Michelle was determined though, 'Mama, they are all our brothers and sisters and we are Goans.   We must unite to fight our problems together.'  She eventually convinced her mother to accompany her to an awareness meeting that had been called to acquaint the people of the problem.   She later took to the stage and expressed her views in her child-like innocence, 'I request you all to keep Goa close to your hearts.  Let us keep Goa clean for friends of my age and younger.'   The crowd applauded her appeal and moved with right earnest to find a solution.

Respect And  Love

Many a time, the lack of respect for a fellow human being is what causes tensions amongst us.   Respect is a trait that we need to give and learn to receive as well.  We must first respect ourselves.  Again, without respecting ourselves, we cannot radiate respect to others.   This in turn is where the ugly head 'hate' and revenge shows up. 

 I visited Mumbai recently and was touched by the pleasant manner of 10-year-old Divya, at whose place I stayed as a guest.   Divya's mother planned to take her to the temple one Saturday evening.  The excited Divya prepared herself the whole day for the visit.   Due to some reason the plan changed and her mother went to the temple with a friend.  An upset Divya was disappointed and furious too.   She however has great regard for her parents.  She knew she could not allow her anger to explode on them.  A little later we heard the water running in the kitchen and there was Divya giving positive vent to her energy.   She was washing the dishes left over after lunch!  She was involved in a great act that only spoke of respect while also cooling off her anger by undertaking to do some positive work.

‘I’mportant Significance

The significance of 'I' is so vital to understand.  Donald always collected unusable paper and other, what would be called, waste materials.   He always had it at the back of his mind that he would use this to enhance his creative skills.  He lost no time in turning this 'waste' material into a 'treasure' in the form of a lovely stuffed deer, his favorite animal.   He showed it to his parents and his teacher; and all of them were all praise for the glorious effort.  However, his classmate Darren was a bit too harsh with his words.   'You are always praising yourself,' he admonished Donald.  'You sound like that donkey who could never stop praising his own tail!' he chided.   Donald was not hurt by the comment, but told Darren just one thing, 'This is all about my effort, my idea and my creativity.  Everyone wants me to share with them my thoughts on this.   So if I speak about myself a little and take credit for what I have achieved, why would I sound like the proverbial donkey?'  This did make sense to Darren who was now convinced that talking about what we have achieved is something we should do, thought we need not keep doing it all the while.   We can always take credit for good work, but stop short of being overwhelmed with the feeling of pride and achievement so as to affect our simplicity of life. What you achieve is of utmost importance for your growth and happiness.

Realise This…

We can always take credit for good work, but stop short of being overwhelmed with the feeling of pride and achievement so as to affect our simplicity of life. What you achieve is of utmost importance for your growth and happiness.

It is imperative that we realize that we are more important than we possibly think we are.   We form a very important part of society .  You are not part of the future as many will tell you.  The famous statement goes: 'Youth and children are our future'.   I strongly differ.  For me: 'The youth and children are very much part of TODAY.'