I learnt from…?

IHM’s latest post makes me wonder what made me what I am today. Where did I learn my ethics and values from? Who taught me my traditions and practices? Where do my beliefs and preferences come from? Let me think…

From school, I learnt to pray. I learnt to pray when things go wrong. I learnt to believe that tomorrow will be better because God is always there for you.

From dad, I learnt that God is in your conscience. That he is not a person sitting somewhere up there observing everything. I learnt that God is most probably a creature of the nth dimension that we three-dimensional creatures cannot comprehend.

From mom, I learnt to believe in that omnipresent force that we choose to call God. I learnt to repose unquestioning faith in that force, whether I understand it or not.

From my experiences, I learnt not to try to understand. I learnt that some things cannot be understood because we, as humans, are just not capable of understanding.

I also learnt that this world is full of injustices and inequality. I learnt that if we needed to survive, we needed to either fight, or ignore what is obviously wrong with the world. I chose to fight, rather than ignore.

From Nandini, I learnt to believe that tomorrow will be a better day, because this too will pass. I learnt to live life to the fullest because you never know what will happen next. I learnt to seize the day because tomorrow, you might be in hospital, with broken ribs…or worse, dead. I learnt that lost time will never come back. I learnt to say sorry because tomorrow might be too late. I learnt never to wait to tell a person how much you care for them because otherwise you may never get a chance to do it.

From friendships, I learnt that ultimately, very few people deserve the loyalty and love you are willing to offer. I learnt never to let go of those who are worth it.

From life, I learnt to live it to the hilt.