BLESSINGS OF GOD

BLESSINGS OF GOD Taken for Granted When you suffer some kind of damage, either internally or externally, keep your patience. Be emptyminded for a while. If you give this chance to your mind, it will soon release a strong energy and this energy will provide you the help required in any untoward situation. Sunday Times of India, February 16, 2020 carries the following article under the heading ‘To breathe is a luxury’. F ROM struggling in the past few years, Maneesha Ramakrishnan (50) has progressed to liking her feeble, hoarse voice. Her presence at home is marked by her breathing through a tracheostomy tube (for oxygen) on her neck. “To breathe is a luxury. Now, children laugh as they hear me breathe. My voice sounds funny to them and that’s joy for me”, she says. She is one of the survivors of the Carlton tragedy that shook Bengaluru ten years ago, on the 23rd February afternoon. She was working in a private company on the seventh floor of the building. The toxic fumes she inhaled changed the course of her life. “My vocal folds and windpipe got stuck to each other. The larynx was affected equally. I lost my voice. That’s why I struggle to speak,” says Maneesha, whose smile is still infectious. Her courage can be felt from the following words, she says “I don’t call myself a victim. I have braved it all through. I was never depressed”. The story of this braveheart teaches us some great lessons. Human beings possess the ability to bounce back from seemingly gloomy predicaments. This ability is known as resilience. Resilience is a law of nature. It means the ability to recover quickly from illness, change, or misfortune. It is found everywhere—in the plant world, the animal world and the human world. Resilience in physics refers to the ability to return to the original form after being bent, compressed or stretched. Dr. Bruce McEwen, Head of Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology at the Rockefeller University has researched this subject and has concluded: “The human brain is very resilient. Give it a chance and it will make every effort to repair itself.” To realize this potential, one must demonstrate the quality of ‘patience’. When you suffer some kind of damage either internally or externally,