THE CHALLENGE I FACED.

THE POWER OF VISUALIZATION / IMAGINATION

Ever so very often each one of us is challenged at sometime or the other in one's professional calling.

Here it is a pleasure to share, what seemed to me a challenge when i first encountered it.

I was teaching a subject called,"Social Intelligence Skills", or otherwise commonly known as,"Soft Skills".

In the class of 60 odd students one of them was visually challenged.

One day during class, he shot a question at me saying,"Sir how can i improve my own speaking style?"

Whew! You could have heard even a pin drop in the room following the ensuing silence that came on.

It was tough to answer that!

Looking at him and the class , i asked him if he really wants me to tell him the response, he said,"yes sir".

Fine i said, and invited him to come to the front of the room.

Once there, i seated him on a chair and made him face the rest of the class.

Through gestures to the class i sought their silent cooperation.

To my young friend i said , would you like to take a small walk with me mentally.

He responded positively, though he was eager to know what that would mean?

I said, i am going to describe some scenes for you and i want you to imagine the scenes in the most powerful multidimensional theatre you have and that is in your brain. You are equipped with the most advanced audio-visual system.

Then i asked him if he was ready and willing to make the journey.

He responded positively and eagerly with a smile.I sensed his eagerness.

As i described scene after scene i was watching him , his face , his movements, his breathing.

The breathing was slow and rhythmic in a pattern.

His face had a smile never seen before .

His class mates watched him in delight though surprised.

Then i asked him to imagine he had his best friend sitting there on a bench in a lovely park.

his best friend wanted to chat with him. I said feel free to have a mental dialouge with your best friend and feel free if you wish to share aloud.
[Now dear reader we must rememeber that in india, even amongst males, there is a tendency to be reserved about some things. They may not share everything even if it means no harm to them]

So as he continued his mental dialouge he was having with his best friend. Then when i saw a change in his facial expressions, i intervened and said, Are you done , would you like to leave your friend now?

To this he said, "Yes", and as he was bidding a mental bye to his friend , i saw his facial expressions and his body language.

It was absolutely beautiful. It spoke of a young man who had found joy in knowing that he could actually talk with his best friend and seek his thoughts on improving himself.

As the exercise ended and i drew him slowly out of his wonder land where he had wandered so consciously, i softly told him ," Now do you believe for yourself that you can actually visualize for yourself the way you talk, your facial expressions and everything you wanted to know about yourself , which otherwise you felt you could not.

His simple response was,"Thank You Sir", it was beautiful , i enjoyed every moment of the talk i had.

His face spoke of relief and joy.

To me it was a challenge overcome, it was a moment of Truth, an "LOL"[Lesson of learning].

I now realized that i had it in me to coach even otherwise abled people.

Yes, this was a Gift of my Guru.Indeed!

Thank you,

yours sincerely,

A.S.Prasad