You make me want to be a better man

Dearest Darling Readers, Jack Nicholson’s character ‘Melvin Udal’ famously said to Helen Hunt’s character Carol Connelly in the movie, ’As Good as it Gets‘: “You make me want to be a better man.” The scene, the dialogue, the impact lingers fresh even today. And I wonder who are those people who had similar impact on me? My Teacher Ms Ela Mukherjee - I was 16. One day she looked hard at me and said, ‘You are not an ordinary boy. You will do something significant with your life.” I believe, today if she were alive, she would be proud of how I am living. In that moment, I could have said, You make me want to be a better man. My mother - I was 18. All her jewelry was sold during a family financial crisis. I could do nothing to stop her from selling her gold. She was peaceful and determined. I was devastated. I was helpless. I was crying. In that moment I wanted to be a better man. My trainer Rajan - I was about 26. After a session he hugged me and said, “You are a mountain of a man.” One day, in his home, he was in a pensive mood. He looked at me, looked away from me and said in a silent voice, “You are the only person who can do more than me. And he cried tears of joy.” Wow…a trainer I was looking up to says this about me!!! In both those instances, I decided to be a better man. Dr Victor Frankl - I was about 28. I read his autobiography and my life changed. I believe, in their life time, every human being should read his autobiography, ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’. It’s awesome! To even think of what he had to endure and yet emerge unscathed from the travails of the concentration camps is so very inspiring. And that too not for personal gains….that too for the sake of humanity. To make everyone believe, no one else controls their life, but, “They Do!!!” As I read his book, so many times, I had goose bumps all over. So many times, I was determined to live a ‘meaningful’ life. If he was there, sitting with me, I would have certainly told him, “You make me want to be a better man.” A painter was asked, ‘which is his best painting?’ ‘The next one’, he answered. The journey continues. Many more people and events, large and small, have re-enforced the desire and determination to be better than ever before. I have realised, there are no destinations to reach, only milestones to cross, with happiness and a sense of purpose. Today, when I see selflessness, when I see genuineness, when I see sacrifice, when I see sharing and caring, when I see expressions of unbridled love, I get overwhelmed. Tears well up. To each one of them I wish to say “You make me want to be a better man.” As I write the LSMs, I ask myself, reading this, will someone want to be a better man (or woman)? Dear friends, I ask you, does reading LSMs make you want to be a better person? If yes, then the time we invest to write, edit, format, design, the few lakhs we invest every year on resources to release the LSMs, is all worth it. If no, I need to know and I am willing to improve. Help! Darling friends, LSMs have completed 3 years in the same format. Would you like to see/read something else too in LSMs? Would you like a particular aspect (parenting / marriage / sales / business / stories / quotes etc to be covered in LSM? Would you like videos / audios to be presented in LSMs and make it more complete? Would you like to write for LSMs? Is there any other suggestion you would love to make? Your thoughts are welcome and needed. In the coming month, based on your sharing, we will bring about changes in the content, design, format and presentation to make your LSMs more ‘lively and inspiring’. Some of our readers regularly send us their thoughts. Their feedbacks are our HUGE motivation and a constant reminder of how much your thoughts mean to us. Thank you so much…What can we do in turn? What else but “Be better in connecting with you.” Personally for me, as always, as Jack Nicholson would say, ”You make me want to be a better man.” With loads of love, prayers and best wishes, Narendra Goidani As I Live, I learn.