Last month my darling wife Bharathi purchased three different toothpaste variants. The regular Colgate for me, the blue jelly type with floating dots for the kids, and one for herself that proclaimed miraculous results for sensitive teeth.

 

I tried all three and it was fun. I am sticking to the old regular one that I am used to. At least it makes me think my teeth will be whiter !!! Haha.

 

On a lazy Saturday morning, our darling daughter Mahek, still sleepy-eyed, pressed ‘my’ toothpaste tube.

 

Seeing the boring white paste emerge, disappointed her. Since the deed was done, she knew her mother would insist on using what she had pressed out.

 

With sadness in her voice, with the shoulders shrugged low, with an ‘oh no !’ written on her face, she remarked, ‘How wonderful it would be if irrespective of the tube we press, the paste we want should come out.’

 

She looked at me wistfully. I gave her a helpless smile.

 

She stomped to her bed and sat down with a thud. She was NOT upset with herself! She was upset with the non-co-operation of the tube !!!

 

Should it not even have the sense to understand what a kid wants? Is it not its duty to sleepy-eyed kids, who win the big fight to wake up early when there is no school?

 

Can’t it co-operate this little bit and do its job properly?

 

When will adults and toothpaste tubes understand the small simple obvious needs of kids?

 

I guess these were her thoughts. With no words of solace that would make me sound confident or release her of her agony, all I could do was look at her with as much love as I could muster.

 

This episode opened my eyes to some wonderful thoughts.

 

1. Like toothpaste, in life, so many things can never be undone.

• Harsh words said
• An accident due to rash driving
• Missing opportunities because of overconfidence
• Being absent when people genuinely need us

 

2. When squeezed, what is inside comes out of the toothpaste tube. Similarly, when life squeezes me…

• My strengths
• My weaknesses
• My character
• My composure
• My hidden agendas
• My values
• My fears
• My insecurities
• My needs

 

…get revealed as they come out.

 

Did I blame others for my failures, for my misbehaviours, for my negative outbursts and negative emotions?

 

Or, when I was squeezed by life, I realized where I needed to improve and make myself better?

 

3. Whatever comes out from the tube is used to clean and freshen the mouth. Whatever has happened in my life, I will use it to clean and purify myself, make myself better and fresher.

 

Nowadays, I look at the toothpaste tube with a smile and gratitude. After all, it has taught me three invaluable lessons of life, hasn’t it?

 

When you are squeezed by life, I pray…

• may you emerge with pride.
• may your inner beauty be revealed to you.
• may your inner strengths be revealed to you.

 

Your thoughts dear darling?

 

With love, prayers and exceptional wishes,

 

– Naren

 

Change your thoughts. Change your life