I used to work for a taskmaster in Dubai. His name was Mahesh Menda. He always challenged his people to go beyond what they believed to be possible. Every time we went back to him to explain why a task could not be done, his standard reply would be, “I am not paying you to tell me it cannot be done.” Though he seemed apathetic during such moments, on retrospection I realized, it enabled us to look at possibilities that we hadn't looked at till then. And invariably, we did come up with solutions that seemed impossible earlier. He led our minds beyond what we believed we were capable of.
Bruce Lee uttered, “To hell with circumstances. I create opportunities.”
I was also fortunate enough to work with an incorrigible optimist in Mumbai. His name was David Samson. His famous lines were, “I don't take 'no' for an answer. First say 'yes, it can be done', and then let us discuss how to do it. There must be a way. There is always a way.” In fact, his lines had rubbed so much into us that in most meetings, whoever said 'no', the rest of us would smile at David Samson, and in chorus we would say, “First say 'yes', it can be done…” And invariably, we did come up with a way that we were blind to till then. He led our minds beyond what we perceived as our limits.
Napoleon Bonaparte stated, “Circumstances! What are circumstances? I make circumstances.”
I was blessed to be a witness to that moment. “How are you?” asked the elderly gentleman to the one who had a fracture in his hand. The man replied, “I am pulling on.” The wise old man roared back, “Say, you are on 'Top of the World'. Out of 206 bones, only one is broken. Celebrate the remaining 205 that are intact.” He then added these transforming words, “Don't look at what has left you. Look at what you are left with.” Ever since, I experience a compulsive gratitude to 'what I am left with', and never the repulsive remorse for 'what has left me'. He led my mind to see the larger picture beyond the immediate trifles.
James Allen tells us, “Circumstances do not make the man. They reveal him to himself.”
No matter what circumstances men of substance encountered in their lives, they always triumphed over them through some mental philosophies they believed in.
Rather than allowing the circumstances to govern them, they ensured that the mental philosophies they believed in governed the circumstances. They showed us that man is bigger than all his circumstances, which he will realise, only if his life is governed by strong mental philosophies.
What is possible for 'one' is possible for many. What is possible for 'many' is possible for all. If they all could do it, we too can. Let us take life head on...
