Listen

When I ask you to listen to me,

and you start giving me advice

you have not done what I have asked.

When I ask you to listen to me,

and you feel you have to do something to solve my problem

you have failed me,strange as that may seem.

Listen! all I asked was that you listen, not talk or do....just hear me.

When you accept as a simple fact that I do feel, what I feel,then I can quit trying to convince you and can get about the business of understanding behind this irrational feeling.

Irrational feelings make sense when we understand what's behind them.

So please just listen and hear me. And if you want to talk, wait a minute for your turn, and I will listen to you.

My feelings

Comes The Dawn

After a while you learn the subtle difference
Between holding a hand and chaining a soul.

And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning, and company doesn’t mean security.
And you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts, and presents aren’t promises.

And you begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes ahead with the grace of a woman or a man,
Not with the grief of a child.

And you learn to build all your roads on today because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans, and futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight. After a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you ask too much.

So you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

And you learn that you really can endure, and that you really are strong and you really have worth. And you learn and you learn, with every goodbye you learn.

My life in a nutshell

My name is Gopa. I am 38years old, a single mother and a breast cancer survivor. I was living in the United States when I was diagnosed with cancer and like most people I cringed when I heard the diagnosis. I had a lot of questions but I never felt sorry for myself and this was possible because life had thrown bigger curveballs my way prior to this. The loss of my firstborn, the premature birth of my next child and many other hardships had taught me the art of detachment. They had made me realise how fragile life is and that the only way forward is to grab every happy moment and enjoy it to the fullest.
I had two choices when I found out about the cancer, I could either give up on myself and stop living or I could live my life according to my terms and fight this disease. I chose to do the latter…I decided fulfil a long cherished dream and went skydiving. Belive me, I conquered my fear of cancer when I took that jump out of the aircraft.
A woman goes through many emotions when she is faced with this disease and only someone who has walked in those shoes understands what she feels. I went through my private hell silently and often penned down my thoughts to give myself an outlet. I wasn't destined to have the support of a loving husband at the time and I realised this when he once said to me that I was damaged goods and I should consider myself lucky because he was still with me.
I stopped waiting around from that day for someone to uplift me, I decided to plant my own flowers and to decorate my own soul because today was important and I was important. Life hasn't been easy but I am still standing tall and am smiling as well. Today I look back with satisfaction because I never gave up on life and its challenges, I came back to India after having worked in the Mayor's office and started my own Public Relations firm with good friends successfully. My boys are my greatest source of inspiration and it's the joy I get from seeing their sweet little smiles and feeling their hugs and kisses that reminds me of how blessed I am.
You see, something like cancer doesn't take us down. We take ourselves down when we think that cancer has more power over us then we do ourselves. Nothing matches the power of the human spirit...nothing can extinguish the light in our souls once we decide to let it shine. Sometimes it takes a strong knock to shake us out of our ignorance. The idea is to let go of our ignorance, our inhibitions and embrace our true power. Within each of us is a radiant soul, a manifestation of the Supreme. Once we learn to accept that, cancer becomes quite meaningless.
God Bless you all. Thank you.