An inspirational post that’s written on hooks that bring up unpleasant, distasteful, and painful thoughts and feelings?

There are so many issues I personally hate or stay away from in Gail Goodwin’s recent blog post - which makes it all the more amazing in how inspirational the message is.

Gail talks about things like:

War

It is abhorrent to me in every way. As famous historian Martin Gilbert says, “Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” Condemned is a cruel word. In this context, its usage is fully justified.

Iraq

Let’s just say I’ve read Saddam Hussein’s biography and have the kind of balanced perspective about the man which is guaranteed to evoke harsh criticism from your ‘average’ citizen who is spoonfed news and views of the world by traditional and conventional media (newspapers, TV et al).

Law of Attraction

Many people call it baloney. More people swear by it. Can you spell C-O-N-T-R-O-V-E-R-S-Y ?

Yet, when you’ve finished reading that long blog post, your mind will be racing, your heart will be aching, and your imagination will be soaring.

And if you’re like me, your eyes will be a little wet - no, not a real tear-jerker, but a touching story or two does sneak in under ones defences.

In this post, that’s a direct result of Gail’s shaking up my brain, I want to talk about 2 things.

Soldiers

And dreams

First, soldiers.

It was around 2 years back when I was at a lecture by Capt. Raghuraman. The topic: “Leadership at 20,000 feet”.

It was about soldiers who guard the Godforsaken no-man’s land at the border between India and Pakistan, in the rarefied heights of the Siachen glacier - a place on the map that not one in our audience of over 150 intellectuals could point out confidently and surely!

Temperatures are at 50 C - BELOW zero. And that’s not counting wind chill factor!

The brave, daring heroes who patrol this post are typically in their late teens or early twenties. It would be physically too tough for ‘older’ folks to handle that stress.

Their clothing and gear weigh over 35 kg. Snow falls 12 to 18 inches deep. Wading through the powdery whiteness is like walking through molasses.

“Patrolling is the most physically exhausting task - and it is what takes most of the time of the day. If you’ve had jaundice do you remember how much of an effort it was to move from one location to another? These soldiers operate in that physical state for almost a year!”

All the while, they carry their heavy load as they trudge several miles every day.

Why?

To guard a ravine on the border between two nations. To serve their country and do their duty. To justify the trust their leader placed in them.

Yet how many regular citizens know about this?

Or care?

This is the address to which anyone can write a letter of support to our brave troops:

To the Officers and Men of
102 Inf Bde
C/O 56 APO
INDIA

I wrote them a letter. My daughter sent them a card. To our delight, she got a reply back from the army!

We adore and evangelize our corporate and political ‘heroes’. But have you tried writing Donald Trump a letter? Did you hear back from him?

As a society, we’ve got some serious re-thinking to do on our priorities. And they are individual to each one of us. I’m not saying you MUST place certain things on a higher scale than others.

But I do want you to THINK about it.

Dreams

And now, let’s talk about DREAMS.

Yours. And mine.

They both have something in common. They are something we WANT.

Your dreams may be bigger or smaller than mine, worthier or baser, harder or easier to achieve.

Gail’s post reminded me that what’s important is to BELIEVE in them. For a reason. With a purpose.

I don’t care if you believe the ephemeral ‘logic’ of the ‘Law of Attraction’ or not.

I don’t lose sleep over whether or not you buy into the theory of a ‘collective subconscious’ or a ‘Universal conscience’ that binds all humanity together.

I don’t mind if you laugh at the power of ‘random synergy’ or the thought that ‘when the student is ready, the master will appear’.

But I DO want you to draw energy, faith and confidence from the story of how Gail’s midnight flash of inspiration.

About how it grew into a movement that is reaching into thousands of lives around the world.

About how it is changing belief systems, generating self worth and igniting passions long forgotten.

About how it is fanning the flames of a global change that will make this a better, nicer, happier planet.

And also notice how it did not just ‘happen’.

There’s effort involved in making dreams come true. Every dream will be tested. And the bigger your goals, the steeper will be the challenges.

If you’re into reading in a big way, I’ll recommend a book first brought to my attention by Guy Kawasaki - it’s about the life and work of Dr.Paul Farmer who worked with the poorest of poor people in Haiti, revolutionizing their healthcare delivery systems.

“Mountains Beyond Mountains” is on Amazon.com or in your bookstore. It will cost around $20. It will re-program your brain to possibilities and open your eyes to the vast potential that lies hidden inside each one of us.

You are NOT too small, too weak, or too insignificant to make a difference.

To steal a line from Barack Obama’s political campaign:

“Yes, You CAN!”

It teaches US, the civilians, the ‘common people’, to respect, admire and appreciate the REAL heroes - soldiers who willingly risk EVERYTHING, including their lives, for our safety and protection.

It teaches US, the ‘everyday folk’, about the power of dreaming, believing and acting on our higher purpose - to make a difference. Maybe a big one. But even small ones add up in a big way.

Three things to do after reading this post:

1. Go to Gail’s blog, and read her heart-touching post

2. Find out the address for your nation’s armed forces, and send a soldier a card

3. Take out your dream book (or if you don’t have one, even a sheet of white paper will do) - and write out your dreams

Then spend the rest of your life making them come true!

Links to check out:

The official transcript of Capt.Raghu Raman’s presentation (which, in my opinion, barely does justice to this life-changing lecture, is here - “Leadership at 20,000 feet”)