Values for the Yatra

Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter February 2010

Failure means you’re ALMOST THERE…

Come on girl! You can do it! Start singing! Come on doll! Go girl... Yes I saw them yelling and shouting,
screaming. But nothing made sense to me. All I did was clutched the hem of my pretty yellow dress tight with
one hand and the microphone with the other. With a blank expression I gave a loud yelp and the next thing I
did was cry into the microphone. I was still, frozen as fright gripped every ounce of my being. I was numbed
with the stare of the crowd. Smirks in the air made me weak in the knees… this was me in standard I. Mom
forced me to register my name for the school singing competition every year, I dreaded that. For the next three
years the same show went on. The moment I stepped on stage I shuddered and the words and melody of the
song seemed long lost. Practices and efforts in vain, I put my head down and walked off the stage in shame.
Then followed nightmares for weeks, my friends made fun of me and teachers thought I was useless. I was
greeted with a sympathetic look wherever I went. That was it! I decided no more singing for me.

In school I was shy and timid. My stage experience was enough for that. I hardly made conversation with peo-
ple I did not know. I was labeled as ‘the girl who cried on stage’. Deep within I knew I had a good voice and
that I could sing fairly well. Come Standard IX and I found myself watching aspiring singers audition for the
lead singer- actor for the school annual thanksgiving day. I almost cringed as memories of standard I came
crashing back to me. I walked away…

When all had left, the din died down, the auditorium was empty…my moms words kept ringing in my head
‘You Don't Have To Get It Right, You Just Have To Get It Going.’ I made sure no one was around as I
walked into silence, stepped on stage, held the microphone and sang aloud… I sang to my hearts content and I
did not want to stop. A deep sense of calm came over me, confidently I sang again and again. I felt like a free
bird, and now I wanted to soar... that year I auditioned and to every ones surprise I bagged the lead role for the
annual day. And the credit goes to those 3 times that I faltered and failed.

We all know as we are progressing towards our personal goals, dreams and aspirations that we will fail repeat-
edly, and then all of a sudden we achieve our ultimate outcome. “Each failure is a stepping stone to Success,
In this ISSUE which in turn will become a very long and lovely stone walkway into the castle of your DREAMS!”

The following is a list of people that we all know who failed before they succeeded. I cannot emphasize enough
Failure means... 1
that you need to continue to try over and over until you succeed.

• Dirubhai Ambani struggled his way through to build his large Reliance Empire. He started off as a small
time worker with Arab merchants.
Life is Beautiful 2
• A relatively unsuccessful marketer of restaurant equipment, he didn’t sell his first hamburger until age 52. At
a time when many people prepare for retirement, Ray Kroc built McDonald’s from a handful of hamburger
High-Yield Student 3 stands into the world’s largest food chain.
• Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper for lacking ideas. He also went bankrupt several times before he built
Educating to Life 4 Disneyland.

Failures??? But not quite… be proud of your failures because they really are successes. Experience is what you
Motivation 5 receive when you do not achieve what you desire. Thoughts are powerful things; whatever you put your focus
on will grow. Imagine that your mind is a garden. You can fill your mind with beautiful flowers or let it be-
come overgrown and out of control with weeds. We can't have two opposing thoughts at the same time! If you
Festivals 6
want a flourishing garden; out must come the weeds. Positive thinking leads to a positive attitude. Maintain-
ing a positive attitude is really a decision to be happy, it's your choice. Buddha summarized how to remain
News & Photos 7 happy no matter how bad things may seem when he said, " Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't
learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we
got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us be thankful.”

You need to fail in order to ultimately succeed in LIFE! After all, in success language, failure means you are
almost there! Natasha Almeida
 Values for the Yatra
Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter February 2010

GET RID OF THE ELEPHANT!

Bosco Pereira sdb

A 'factory' made progress with lots of production and

profits. There was a particular MACHINE that did 80% of the
work. It was the owner's pride, neighbours envy and the de-
light of the workers. No other "machine" could produce and
manufacture so much. The 'power', the 'speed' and the
'efficiency' that this machine delivered was far beyond
expectations. But and a Big BUT for that matter, it got dys-
functional every now and again creating physical damage to the people who worked on
it or around it.......fingers got cut, sparks went into people's eyes, faces got wounded or
the head got damaged - now and then a person even died.

Since these accidents did not happen on an everyday basis, not much attention was
given to the defective 'machine'. The focus was on the huge profits and not on the dam-
age done to the individuals. To heal and hide the wounds, a first aid kit was placed in
the work place. A nurse was employed to say that management 'Cares'..... And as years
went by more damage was done. The wounds became more fatal. The productive ma-
chine's behaviour got more erratic and violent. Injuries were on the increase......the man-
agement opened a hospital, got in counsellors to deal with the emotional
and psychological consequences of the physical wounds. A priest and a nun were em-
ployed to put spiritual bandages on these wounds that were created by this Defective
Productive Machine.

The machine though very useful at the same time created much damage. Nobody
wanted to throw out or discard the machine that was so productive and brought in prof-
its to make all needs and ends meet......

This parable maybe an answer to the suicides we have had in the recent past. We may
have intellectual 'monsters' in our educational system........the elephant is in our living
room, it spells death.

We either change the room or get rid of the elephant. Other actions will only be 'pain
killers, 'but the Disease will remain. Our children will carry on choosing 'not to be.'

Let's get rid of the elephant!

"Suicide is not chosen; it happens

when pain exceeds resources for coping with pain."
 Values for the Yatra
Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter February 2010

HIGH ‘QUICK- ‘MAJOR

WINS’ PROJECTS’
IMPACT

‘FILL- INS’ ‘HARD

SLOGS’
LOW

LOW EFFORT HIGH

THE ‘ACTION – PRIORITY’ MATRIX

Is a Simple Diagramming Technique that helps YOU to choose which
activities to Prioritize to make the most of your Time and Opportunities.
CHOOSE ACTIVITIES INTELLIGENTLY… YOU CAN BE A HIGH-YIELD STUDENT
WHERE DO YOU FIT??? INTO WHICH MATRIX DO YOU WANT TO ENTER?
Students must be enabled to integrate EFFORT with IMPACT.
Effective Study Habits must involve ‘Love for Study’ and also to MAKE STUDY FUN….
Good Students are those who are able to channel their Failures into Stepping Stones for Success.

Challenge Students to become ‘High-Yield Students’ : Integrate EFFORT and IMPACT

 Values for the Yatra
Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter February 2010
Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter December 2009

The Spilt Milk : A Parable for All

This is  a story about a famous research scientist                                                                                  
who had made several very important medical                                                                                    
breakthroughs. He was being interviewed by a                                                                                    
newspaper reporter who asked him why he thought                                                                                           
he was able to be so much more creative than the                                                                                              
average person. What set him so far apart from others? 
 
 
He responded that, in his opinion, it all came from an experience with his mother that                
occurred when he was about two years old. He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk 
from the refrigerator when he lost his grip on the slippery bottle and it fell, spilling its                 
contents all over the kitchen floor—a veritable sea of milk! 
 
 
When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, giving him a lecture, or  
punishing him, she said, "Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made! I have 
rarely seen such a huge puddle of milk. Well, the damage has already been done. Would you 
like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?" 
 
 
Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, "You know, Robert, whenever you make 
a mess like this, eventually you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order. 
So, how would you like to do that? We could use a sponge, a towel, or a mop. Which do you 
prefer?" He chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the spilled milk. 
 
 
His mother then said, "You know, what we have here is a failed experiment in how to effec‐
tively carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands. Let's go out in the back yard and fill the          
bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without dropping it." The little 
boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could 
carry it without dropping it. What a wonderful lesson! 
 
 
This renowned scientist then remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn't 
need to be afraid to make mistakes. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just opportunities 
for learning something new, which is, after all, what scientific experiments are all about. Even 
if the experiment "doesn't work," we usually learn something valuable from it.
 Values for the Yatra
Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter February 2010

MOVING THOUGHTS To MOTIVATE STUDENTS

BALANCED LIFE
Prioritize on a daily basis, i.e. Make a list of things to do each day and then number them in
order of priority. The least important task can be left undone with no correspondences.
Twenty percent of your efforts will bring 80 percent results. Be aware of this. Focus only on
tasks that will bring the maximum benefit.
Make your own rules. When you are busy, apply your own emergency rules, like not watch-
ing T.V., not making unnecessary phone calls, avoid needless conversations, not taking
lengthy breaks and so on.
Set apart times of the day exclusively for yourself – even it is only a five-minute break
(meditation, self-massage, focused breathing); it will help you to achieve satisfaction.
REACHING NEW HEIGHTS
• Failure to hit the bull’s eye is never the fault of the target.
• A great deal of what you see depends on what you are looking for
• The poorest man is not he who is without a rupee, but he who is without a dream.
• Progress has little to do with speed, but much to do with direction.
• Attempt great things in life. If you believe in God, attempt these things for God.
• If you aim at nothing, you are sure to hit it.
• Strive for new goals.
CHALLENGES IN LIFE
• Have immense faith in yourself and accept the challenges in life.
• People sometimes pass over their problems to God. But you must give your best. Re-
member the Arabic saying: Believe in God, but tie your camel to the tree.
• Keep at least five minutes for absolute silence. More the better. Only in silence can your
body get peace.
• As you walk along life’s way, have a positive and constructive attitude.
• Have a sense of humor; laugh with others.
• Help others, brining comfort; forget your problems. Share others’ problems and you will
be “abundantly blessed.”
PEOPLE
• Devote time to help people who need care and love.
• This will give you an inner peace that will recharge your health batteries.
 Values for the Yatra
Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter February 2010

About Id E Milad
Popularly known as Barah Wafat (twelve death), this
festival is celebrated on the twelfth day of the third
month Rabi-ul-Awwal, in September / October. His
death anniversary also falls on the same day, the word
barah standing for the twelve days of the Prophet's
sickness.
During these days, learned men deliver sermons in
mosques, focussing on the life and noble deeds of the
Prophet. In some parts of the country, a ceremony known as sandal rite is performed over
the symbolic footprints of the Prophet engraved in stone.
A representation of buraq, a horse on which the Prophet is believed to have ascended to
heaven, is kept near the footprints and anointed with sandal paste or scented powder, and
the house and casket containing these are elaborately decorated. Elegies or marsiyas are
sung in memory of the last days of the Prophet. The twelfth day or the urs is observed qui-
etly, in prayers and alms-giving. Muhammad, son of Abdullah, son of Abdul Muttalib, of the
tribe of Qureysh, was born at Mecca about 570 A.D., 53 years before the Hijrah. For some
time Muhammad was at the service of a wealthy widow, named Khadijah. This resulted in
their marriage which proved a very happy one, though she was fifteen years older than he.
For 26 years they remained together and after her death Muhammad took other wives.
From about 610 A.D. Muhammad began to receive, as he believed, revelations sent down
from Allah through the angel Gabriel. A small community was gathered, but they were perse-
cuted by the Meccans. So in 622 A.D. Muhammad with his followers immigrated to Medina.
Here he was no longer the leader of a religious minority, but the ruler of the city. This flight
from Mecca to Medina is known as Hijrah and marks the beginning of the Islamic era.

Success in Examinations….

Success in Examinations….
 Values for the Yatra
Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter February 2010

“Love
the Life
Student Value- you Live
Education Sessions &
at St. Anne’s Fort, &
Holy Cross, Thane
Live
the Life
you Love”

Value Education Teachers Seminar

At
St. John the Baptist School, Thane
On
3rd February 2010 for ABE Schools in the Thane Deanery
From 9.00 am—4.00 pm

AVEC E-Letter ‘Values for the Yatra’ is an initiative to provide

Animation Resources for Teachers involved in Value Education in the
ABE schools/ Jr. Colleges .Values for the Yatra will be published every
month and is for private circulation. Your valuable suggestions are most
welcome to assist us in making Values for the Yatra a useful tool of ani-
mation and bonding among the teachers and students of the ABE
schools in Mumbai.
CONTACT:
Fr. Glenford Lowe, SDB / Natasha Almeida / Rochwyn Fernandes
AVEC—Don Bosco Youth Services, Matunga 400019 , MUMBAI
Ph: 24154477 e-mail: avecmatunga@gmail.com