Living Fully

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John Henry Newman [known more popularly as Cardinal Newman and the author of the famous hymn Lead Kindly Light] said, “Fear not that your life shall come to an end, rather fear that it will never have beginning.”

Too many people don’t live at all, or live very incomplete lives. They exist, not live. Psychologists tell us that most of us make use of a tiny fraction of our potential, as little as 10%. What happens to the remaining 90% of our potential? It is wasted. It’s just not discovered!

There is no limit to our potential. Our brain can continue to grow and change for our entire lives. For all the tremendous progress that mankind has been making over centuries, the bare truth is that it is all made by a few individuals who put their potential to good use. A huge chunk of the human population has only been the beneficiaries of the achievements made by the tiny minority. The saddest fact is that the majority who make little contribution to the progress of the race do not even care to think for themselves. They accept not only the benefits of others’ works but also the truths given by others.

What made me think like this are the answer sheets of my students. I am assessing them these days. My students are all at least 17 years old. Some are 18. But the articles and the letters to the editor that they have written belong to a 12-year-old. I did some investigation and found out that these students don’t read anything outside the textbooks. They don’t even read the daily newspaper that they get free in each classroom. All the information they possess seems to come from social media.

I tried time and again to provoke some of my students into thinking for themselves using different strategies. Nothing worked. They just don’t seem to care about anything except the scores in the exams. The situation wasn’t as bad until a few years back. Post-Covid, some mutation seems to have taken place in the young brains.

There may be many reasons for this. One is the affluence of the parents, I understand. Unlike earlier, now people are quite well off. They can afford to provide many luxuries to their children. Too much comfort is a hazard for the growth and development of children, I think. My experience convinces me of that.

Each one of us has a vision of reality that controls everything else about our life. What if that vision is flawed? What if that vision ends at the tip of one’s own nose?

That is what the situation is in today’s schools. I spoke to quite a few teachers about this and they confirm it. If you correct a student, he will accuse you of ‘insulting’ him. The other day I told a girl student of mine in the class that she could greet her teachers when she met them in the morning. I had noticed that she and many others never did that. So I thought of pointing it out in a very amicable and even humorous way in the class. It was meant for the entire class. But I chose the particular girl as an example for certain obvious reasons. The girl followed me after the class and asked me bluntly, “How dare you insult me in the class?” I was stunned. I offered to apologise to her in front of the class. She didn’t want that, of course.

I succeeded in convincing her of my noble intention. She is a good friend of mine now. That’s a good turn of the tide.

But the point is that there is too much ego-centrism in the youth I deal with now. That’s why I think they need to change their vision of themselves, their reality. Personal growth demands a broader and deeper vision.

Now a confession: I was a terrible egomaniac myself when young. So I’m not surprised when my student feels threatened by a simple disapproval.

Let me end this with a paraphrased version of Cardinal Newman’s prayer:

I loved to choose and see my path; but now

I need another vision.

I need light to show me a new beginning.