Should I Quit? Or Should I Continue?
When Tara was 5 years old, her family was to visit vaishno devi temple.
Vaishno Devi, is a manifestation of the Hindu Goddess Mata Adi Shakti, also known as Goddess Mahalakshmi. Temple is located in Katra at the Trikuta Mountains within the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. ( Source: Wikipedia; visit here).
Vaishno Devi Temple can be reached after making a steep 13-km trek from the road head at Katra, the town at the foot of the Trikuta hills.
Her family decided that they would trek while Tara would take help of a pony to complete that 13 km journey. Tara didn't agree with that. She was confident that she would do the trekking along with her family, and she could do it easily. 13 km isn't that long, is it? After a long discussion within her family, and because of Tara's indefatigable demand, her family surrendered. The trek started.
They were just half a kilometer when Tara said to her dad.
" I told you na, I can do it. See, I am walking with you people. No problem at all. You guys were making fuss for no reason."
"Well done girl, You are an athlete", her dad smiled.
After 2 km of trek, Tara realized she wasn't comfortable walking anymore. Her feet felt heavy. She wasn't able to lift them up. The road was steep and going on and on. It didn't seem to end. But she didn't want to tell her parents, because she had promised to walk with them to the top. Her mind was flustered with double whammy.
"Should I Quit? Or Should I Continue?"
When it became unbearable, she decided to tell her dad,
" I can't walk anymore dad, I really can't. I can't feel my legs. I have to sit somewhere. I am sorry. You guys continue, I will catch you later."
" I can't feel my legs too, damn, they are hurting. We all should have taken the pony." her dad replied.
Tara smiled, confident again, the glow in her eyes returned. They stopped for a break, and her dad sat beside her.
" Are they hurting?" her dad asked.
"No dad, it was nothing." Tara replied.
" Do you remember when we were solving that math's problem? That was tough, wasn't it?"
" Yeah dad, that was hard. Took a long time.", Tara replied wiping the sweat from her forehead.
"Still we solved it, didn't we"?
" I solved it dad, you were just making jokes and taking tea one after another.", Tara replied with a sense of pride and confidence.
That math's problem took 8 attempts. After trying for 3 times, Tara was not sure to continue. She seemed to have done all that she could. She had promised dad, just like now, that she would complete all problems, then only, she would eat. But this problem was tough. What now?
" Should I Quit? Or Should I continue?"
However, her dad was not letting her go. He decided to tell her a story of " An Ant and a Piece of Jaggery".
(Once, there was an ant. Alone and in search of food. She was roaming here and there but couldn't find anything to eat. She was passing by a big rock, suddenly, she saw a large piece of jaggery, kept over it. She decided to reach there. That piece of jaggery was the only food she could find. She had to reach there. But the rock was big and steep. It was very hard to climb to its top. However, she started. After 5 failed attempts, her confidence weakened. She started to rethink her decision. She started to doubt her ability to climb. The thought started mugging her head.
"Should I Quit? Or Should I continue?"
Finally, she decided to overcome her anxiety and fear, and keep trying until she climbed to the top. After 13 failed attempts, she managed to climb to the top on her 14th attempt.
She didn't just climbed to the top, but she climbed over her anxiety, her fear, insecurity, low self-esteem, depression and weak will power.
She realized that the failure is part of a journey, and the only way to complete the journey is to accept the failures and keep trying. Strong will to continue will only lead the way to success.)
After listening to the story. Tara looked at the math problem again. The problem looked just like the piece of jaggery on top of the rock. She started again, strong and focused. In next 5 attempts, she did it. She jumped with joy.
"I did it too dad, I reached the top, just like the ant", Tara screamed at her father.
"I know girl, I always knew you will do it", her dad smiled.
"Should we start our trek again Tara?" asked her dad.
"Why not dad, I am ready" Tara replied.
"Are you sure? What about your feet?"
"I am good dad, and my feet are fine."
Tara had to take another 12 breaks until she reached the temple. But she never asked for help. She had never let the jaggery go.
Vaishno Devi, is a manifestation of the Hindu Goddess Mata Adi Shakti, also known as Goddess Mahalakshmi. Temple is located in Katra at the Trikuta Mountains within the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. ( Source: Wikipedia; visit here).
Vaishno Devi Temple can be reached after making a steep 13-km trek from the road head at Katra, the town at the foot of the Trikuta hills.
Her family decided that they would trek while Tara would take help of a pony to complete that 13 km journey. Tara didn't agree with that. She was confident that she would do the trekking along with her family, and she could do it easily. 13 km isn't that long, is it? After a long discussion within her family, and because of Tara's indefatigable demand, her family surrendered. The trek started.
They were just half a kilometer when Tara said to her dad.
" I told you na, I can do it. See, I am walking with you people. No problem at all. You guys were making fuss for no reason."
"Well done girl, You are an athlete", her dad smiled.
After 2 km of trek, Tara realized she wasn't comfortable walking anymore. Her feet felt heavy. She wasn't able to lift them up. The road was steep and going on and on. It didn't seem to end. But she didn't want to tell her parents, because she had promised to walk with them to the top. Her mind was flustered with double whammy.
"Should I Quit? Or Should I Continue?"
When it became unbearable, she decided to tell her dad,
" I can't walk anymore dad, I really can't. I can't feel my legs. I have to sit somewhere. I am sorry. You guys continue, I will catch you later."
" I can't feel my legs too, damn, they are hurting. We all should have taken the pony." her dad replied.
Tara smiled, confident again, the glow in her eyes returned. They stopped for a break, and her dad sat beside her.
" Are they hurting?" her dad asked.
"No dad, it was nothing." Tara replied.
" Do you remember when we were solving that math's problem? That was tough, wasn't it?"
" Yeah dad, that was hard. Took a long time.", Tara replied wiping the sweat from her forehead.
"Still we solved it, didn't we"?
" I solved it dad, you were just making jokes and taking tea one after another.", Tara replied with a sense of pride and confidence.
That math's problem took 8 attempts. After trying for 3 times, Tara was not sure to continue. She seemed to have done all that she could. She had promised dad, just like now, that she would complete all problems, then only, she would eat. But this problem was tough. What now?
" Should I Quit? Or Should I continue?"
However, her dad was not letting her go. He decided to tell her a story of " An Ant and a Piece of Jaggery".
(Once, there was an ant. Alone and in search of food. She was roaming here and there but couldn't find anything to eat. She was passing by a big rock, suddenly, she saw a large piece of jaggery, kept over it. She decided to reach there. That piece of jaggery was the only food she could find. She had to reach there. But the rock was big and steep. It was very hard to climb to its top. However, she started. After 5 failed attempts, her confidence weakened. She started to rethink her decision. She started to doubt her ability to climb. The thought started mugging her head.
"Should I Quit? Or Should I continue?"
Finally, she decided to overcome her anxiety and fear, and keep trying until she climbed to the top. After 13 failed attempts, she managed to climb to the top on her 14th attempt.
She didn't just climbed to the top, but she climbed over her anxiety, her fear, insecurity, low self-esteem, depression and weak will power.
She realized that the failure is part of a journey, and the only way to complete the journey is to accept the failures and keep trying. Strong will to continue will only lead the way to success.)
After listening to the story. Tara looked at the math problem again. The problem looked just like the piece of jaggery on top of the rock. She started again, strong and focused. In next 5 attempts, she did it. She jumped with joy.
"I did it too dad, I reached the top, just like the ant", Tara screamed at her father.
"I know girl, I always knew you will do it", her dad smiled.
"Should we start our trek again Tara?" asked her dad.
"Why not dad, I am ready" Tara replied.
"Are you sure? What about your feet?"
"I am good dad, and my feet are fine."
Tara had to take another 12 breaks until she reached the temple. But she never asked for help. She had never let the jaggery go.
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