“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear. But the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid. But he who conquers that fear.” Nelson Mandela
Courage is not something that everyone is born with. As we grow up we acquire this value through instances, situations, and adventures we experience in our life. Courage generally refers to being fearless but courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid. Courage means you don’t let fear stop you.
Patience is the ability to stay calm in any situation. Basically, we can say patience is tolerance. Tolerating the actions, reactions or any situation without losing your calm or getting annoyed.
Once a teacher was taking a storytelling session with a primary class. She started narrating the story of ‘The Hare and the Tortoise'. A tortoise who was tired of the hare, who always bragged about how fast he could run challenged him for a race. The race started and the hare sprinted fast and reached quite a distance while the tortoise took tiny steps. After watching the tortoise, the hare decided to take a nap instead of finishing the race, as he knew that the tortoise would never overrun him. The tortoise on the other hand continued to walk steadily and past the sleeping hare and won the race.
The children really enjoyed the session. The teacher then asked them to describe the qualities they found in the two characters. To which she received many answers. The children described the Hare as proud, arrogant and foolish and the Tortoise as wise, courageous and patient.
The teacher then asked them which character did they liked, to which she got the obvious answer. Everybody liked the Tortoise.
The teacher further explained how the Tortoise showed courage by challenging the Hare knowing that he would never match up to his speed, yet he didn’t fear. So we should not fear or if we do fear we should try to gather our courage and conquer our fear.
The teacher then asked the students, 'If the hare had not slept would the tortoise wins the race'? The unanimous answer she received was NO. One of the students replied - God has made us different and we all have different skills. The tortoise could never run faster than the hare and would have lost the race.
The teacher smiled and replied to the student 'yes you are right but what made the tortoise won the race was his patience and his positive attitude'. She further explained how the tortoise was patient and walked with his own pace he won the race because he was consistent. It's not your speed, but your consistency that makes the difference.The world is changing at a high speed and testing our patience. These days most people try to live like the hare. They want things to go fast. But it's ok to walk with your own pace you may take time, have patience and you will get what you want.
A teacher needs a lot of patience to handle the students. No two students are the same everyone is different and have different learning styles. She should be an example for the students. She should teach them that it's ok if you did it wrong you can try again. Failing and rejection are all part of the learning process. Have patience, learn to appreciate yourself and others and keep up a positive attitude.
Tarang JMMS@John Martyn Memorial School, Salangaon, Dehradun - Neelam Bhardwaj, Dolly Pharasi, Shalini Gurung, Laavanya, Joshi