The Contract

My Dear Rishi,

It was fantastic to hear your voice for very very brief three minutes past weekend. I called you back as you requested on Sunday but no one answered the phone.

Rishi, as I write this letter, I reflect back to the day five years back today.  We both have come long way since than. Never in million years I ever anticipated this is how a child and father will be separated. Every child has the right to be with his or her parents and receive the love, support  from them.  In spite of everything I am grateful for life that that you are in this world, happy, growing up with love and care. God bless you son, I love you and will always miss you.

I came across a very beautiful poem today. The poem is by Linda Ellis and it is called the Contract. As I read this poem I understand why I am still here, what is keeping me going, what is sustaining from within when all else has fallen apart. I was there when you took the first breath in this world, when you first opened your eyes in this world and looked right into my eyes love.  Hope one day you read this poem and understand the essence of this poem what it means.

The Contract

By Linda Ellis.

When you breathed into your lungs

that first independent birth,

you signed an invisible contract

breached only upon death.

You made a subconscious promise

when you entered this earth

to cherish this life

and realize its worth.

This contract never expires,

and it never renews;

it has no small print or jargon

to daze and confuse.

An alliance, a marriage,

not of a husband and a wife--

but a union of yourself

and a brief and precious life.

A simple commitment in a pact,

very uncomplicated

Details of the terms are:

Agreement as Stated:

You've been blessed with existence--

an amazing creation.

Living life to the fullest

is your sole obligation.

Are you fulfilling your contract,

your promise, your vow

by inhabiting moments

of your here and your now?

Or.....

Are you often discouraged,

downcast, disenchanted?

Do you forget to count your blessings

and take life for granted?

When you find yourself there,

remember and think

of the contract you "signed"

in a permanent ink:

You've been blessed with existence--

an amazing creation

Living life to the fullest

is your sole obligation

Rishi, as I re-read this poem few times and as I typed this here again, all I could think of the time you were born and I was holding you love. I love you very much and miss you ....

God bless you son...

With lots of love and kisses,

Daddy

Life is not because of it, Rather in spite of it

My Dear Rishi,

I missed  talking to you on the weekend love.

Few years back I came across an interesting article, unfortunately I don't know who is the author nor do I remember the source or the original article. I remember writing the following in my dairy

Life is not because of it, Rather in spite of it

Anonymous

Mother earth is never benevolent to any seeds.It does not  make the process of germination easy for any seed. The seed has to and sprout against the force of earth to emerge  above the  soil. Providential it is that the very earth which stood against till it sprouted then nurtures its growth. It is nature's way of qualifying the seeds worth and if found deserving, it provides all the resources that are needed for it to grow to its full potential.

Similarly, all great men and women were ordinary who were forced to meet and undergo great challenges by circumstances. History is full of simple human beings who won over forces well beyond their control and emerged as champions. So, life is not a journey of "because of it, it is rather in spite of it.".

Rishi, life will throw challenges at you, it is up to you to take those challenges and turn them into opportunities. Life is beautiful, life is fantastic, this universe has enough to support to every ones needs but not every ones greed.

God bless you Rishi, I love you and miss yo very much.

With lots of love, hugs and kisses,

Daddy

A Prayer of Compassion

My Dear Rishi,

We could not talk on the weekend love, I tried many times. Few weeks back I was reading a wonderful book by a Buddhist Monk Lama Surya Das. There was a beautiful prayer I came across and it spoke to me volumes. Rishi, life over past few years has prepared me to accept solitude and solitariness today. Any way, let me not bore you with this heavy stuff.

A Prayer of Compassion

By Lama Surya Das

May my heart stay open and loving when I am feeling hurt and frayed.

May I learn to always to include others in Love's vast embrace.

May my heart remain pure and kind amid the painful details and muck of life

May virtue and serenity belong to all, even my competitors and adversaries.

May my broken heartedness open my heart ever further (like open-heart surgery) and bring forth love and open-hearted compassion.

Rishi, I love this poem for many reasons. It teaches us to remain open and embrace life despite what appears to be humanity's cruelty. We should not let the weeds of bitterness take root in us especially when some one has hurt us very deeply. It is imperative to forgive and show compassion with understanding. Compassion teaches us to understand the person who is inflicting pain on others are themselves carrying so much pain that they  are oblivious to pain they are causing others. Jesus Christ, when he was being crucified alive said, "God forgive them for they don't know what they are doing". This in essence is true essence of compassion. When we don't have compassion in our hearts we humans can continue to inflict enormous pain to humanity. 

Rishi, always remember, two wrongs will not make anything right. Sweetheart eye for an eye will turn whole world blind. The world needs love and compassion more than fear, anger and bitterness. There are only two  emotions in this world either it is love or it is fear.and every other emotion is derivative of these two emotion.  Love is light and Fear is dark. Always be true to your name Rishi (Your name also means " ray of first light", Light is Love and You are love.

I love you, miss you very much darling.  God bless you love.

With lots of love, hugs and kisses.

Daddy

One Step at a Time

My Dear Rishi,

Last weekend I enjoyed talking to you for an hour and fifteen minutes. I could not write this letter as I was involved with organizing an event on Sunday. The organization I volunteer for is called O.N.E: Only Now Exists. We were involved in organizing yogathon. You can check out our website www.onlynowexists.org We were raising funds to build a school in Nigeria for kids.

Now continuing with the theme for this letter, today's poem is called "One Step at a Time". By Adrian Rogers. Rishi, this poem has sustained me over the years especially when going gets tough. I just close my eyes try to recite this poem in my heart, feel the meaning of each word and finally it helps me to see the day through.

One Step at a Time

By Adrian Rogers

One step at a time, is the best way to go

When going through life and

travelling in the direction of your dreams, 

the best way  to get ahead is the simplest way.

Take it one step at a time.

Don't look over your shoulder, if you do,

you'll feel the weight of all your yesterdays upon you.

And don't worry about what lies ahead

By the time you get to the bend in the road,

Or the crest of the hill, you're going to be better and stronger

than you ever were before.

Just go one step at a time, one day at a time

And you'll find a rich thankful life you never thought you could afford.

Rishi, in life's trials and tribulations, sometimes poems like act as a balm to our souls. Hence poetry is also called the language of soul.

With lots of love, hugs and kisses,

Daddy.

The Serenity Prayer

My Dear Rishi,

It was fun talking to you on Saturday. Hope you had a great weekend. Yesterday was Canada day and I went to watch baseball game with friends. Hope you were here with me.  I guess some day at least for now I can hope.

In one of my earlier letters, I mentioned I will be sharing with you poems, various writings etc which I collected over the years. One of my grade IX teacher's introduced me to "The Serenity Prayer". I am so grateful to her over all these years. This prayer has helped me deal with life's trials and tribulation.  When ever I find something powerful I have written it down in my dairy and hoped to share it someday with my children. Never did I imagine that I will not be able to read to you when I am putting you to sleep or over sunday afternoon conversations or just after dinner conversatios. Over the years I have collected many poems, writings and prayer etc.

The Serenity Prayer

By Reinhold Niebuhr

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

Rishi, in life sometimes we just need to let go and just be. I have had to such cross-roads in life. This prayer has helped me to accept "what is" with grace. It takes lot of courage, faith and wisdom to let go my love. Letting go is not for the weak hearted, not for people who are self-centered and selfish. Letting go does not mean that you don't care, it means you care so much you keep other persons welfare in mind than your own selfish and self centered needs. When you let go with the above prayer in your heart  and lips, it means letting go with faith and hope. Rishi, for hope to work you need to have faith. Faith and hope are like two wings of a bird, just like a bird needs both the wings to fly we humans need both the wings i.e. hope and faith, so that  we can cross mountains, oceans, face any storm that life throws at us love.

I recently came across another quote on letting go by a  Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu.  He said, " By letting go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond winning".

God bless you son. I love you and miss you

With lots of love and best wishes,

Daddy