When life throws lemons at you ............... What do you do?
WHEN
LIFE THROWS LEMONS AT YOU …………… WHAT DO YOU DO???
Mario
D’Couto
The best investment that anyone can make is the
investments in one’s self and on the flip side, while we may continue to find
ourselves in the confinement of our homes, this may be a golden opportunity to
invest in self – learning. A polymath is defined as a person with
extraordinarily broad and comprehensive knowledge. They are the ones who are
able to take the ideas from different streams and fields of knowledge and are
able to make connections between two completely different fields of study which
to the ordinary mind would seem unrelatable.
Some of the prominent people I can think of in this regard are Nikola
Tesla, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton and so on but one person who I would like
to elaborate a little more in detail in this blogpost is one whom you may have
come across but perhaps not given much thought to and that man is, Leonardo Da
Vinci. 
The first thing that comes to mind when we think of
Leonardo Da Vinci is artwork. And yes, there is no fraction of a doubt that his
art speaks volumes but he was more than that. He was also an anatomist,
architect, botanist, city planner, costume and stage designer, chef, humanist,
engineer, equestrian, inventor, geographer, geologist, mathematician, military
scientist, musician, painter, philosopher, physicist and raconteur. With the
being said, can we become Da Vinci? Absolutely not! But can the fundamentals of
Leonardo Da Vinci’s approach to learning and cultivation of intelligence be
abstracted and applied to inspire and guide us, in our own journey toward the realization
of our full potential? Yes! In this blogpost/article we are going to look at
some ways on how we can achieve this.
Michael J. Gelb in his book, “Think like Da Vinci”
gives us seven different ways on how we can sharpen and hone our own potential
based on the life of Da Vinci through (the words used below are in Italian),
1.
Curiosita,
[which is learning to question and developing an unrelentless quest for continuous
learning]
2.
Dimostrazione,
[which is a commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence and a
willingness to learn from mistakes]
3.
Sensazione [which
is the refining of the senses so as to make it more efficient for us to
understand our surroundings and reality at a deeper level]
4.
Sfumato
[which is the ability and the willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox and
uncertainty]
5.
Arte/Scienza [which
is the development of the balance between science and logic alongside with art
and imagination (whole – brain thinking)]
6.
Corporalita
[which is the cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness and poise]
7.
Conessione
[which is the recognition of and appreciation for inter – connectedness of all
things and phenomena (system – thinking)]
Just to elaborate a little on what has been mentioned
above, asking questions is half the problem solved (Curiosita). No
wonder the question mark acts as a symbol of finding out answers as the hook
can be seen or viewed as an analogy for digging out answers [ ? << –
looks like a sickle]. Most of our educative systems today seem to be missing
this point, in the sense, that it seems as though right from school, most of us
have always been taught to accept things the way they are and while information
is good, learning to ask questions, not only helps the subject or whatever that
is you would like to know meaningful but it also makes it more personal
and helps you remember it for a long time. If you feel that your questions have
no value or if you think what others are going to say if you were to ask something,
here’s a piece of advice worth keeping in mind, “He who asks a question may be a fool for a day but he who
does not question is a fool for life”. 
Having said that, in the process of asking questions and
trying to find out and learn about things, there are times that mistakes are
bound to happen. This is where our persistence, resilience and willingness to
learn from mistakes come into play (dimostrazione). If I want to get
from point A to point C but get stuck at point B, do you think I am going to
reach at point C? Obviously not! We may have come across so many motivational
speeches from different authors, artists, musicians, sportsmen, entrepreneurs
or ‘self – help gurus’ who talk about not giving up and moving forward and
while I will admit that it could sound cliché, nothing can be further from the
truth. It kind of reminds me of the stone cutter who broke the huge boulder not
so much from the 101st blow but because of the 100 blows that
preceded it. If he had to stop in between, the huge boulder is not going to
break on its own.
Now
to make this happen, we need the tools isn’t it? That’s where our senses come
into play (sensazione). Leonardo Da Vinci wrote, “The average
human looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feeling,
eats without tasting, moves without physical awareness, inhales without
awareness of odour or fragrance and talks without thinking.” Given our
fast – paced lives, running from pillar to post, it seems what Da Vinci is
trying to say is true. Perhaps if we can take more time out for ourselves or
make some part of our day as a time exclusively for ourselves, those moments
can be used to reflect on the wonders of our 5 senses and how each one of them
can become a great means towards understanding our reality at a deeper level.
The human body is indeed one of God’s greatest creation (if in case you have
missed, do check out my other blogpost/reflection/article, “The human body – An
analogy of living for Christ”, https://insightsfromacommonman.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-human-body-analogy-of-living-for.html).
Yet,
there are times when we will have to face uncertainty (Sfumato). There
may be doubts whether are we going along the right path, whether what we’re
doing is right or wrong and so on but as change is constant it’s our ability to
adapt and ride along the waves in the ocean of life that will help us get to
the shore or we may find ourselves drowning in despair and meaninglessness.
It
is said that exercise is not only good for the body but also helps in the
development of one’s mind, helping it to become mentally sharp and focussed (Corporalita,
Arte/Scienza). Studies and research in recent times have proven that this is
true and there’s more to gain than to lose. No wonder there seems to be a great
hype about fitness today more than ever before. But more than that, developing
a fitness regime instils discipline and for some reason, this ‘good quality’
so to speak spills into other areas of our lives as well. Typically, people who
exercise start eating better and become more productive at work. They smoke
less (not that all who exercise or work out are smokers) and show more patience
with their colleagues and family. They use their credit cards less frequently
and say they feel less stressed. It’s not completely clear why, but for many
people, exercise is a keystone habit that triggers widespread change. James Prochaska,
a researcher from the University of Rhode Island would put it this way, “Exercise
spills over. There’s something about it that makes the other good habits
easier” or consider what Todd Heatherton, a researcher at Dartmouth who
has done studies on willpower had to say, “When you learn to force
yourself to go to the gym or start your homework or eat a salad instead of a
hamburger, part of what’s happening is that you’re changing how you think.
People get better at regulating their impulses. They learn how to distract
themselves from temptations. And once you’ve gotten into that will power
groove, your brain is practised at helping you focus on a goal.” 
And finally, we have conessione, which is like
connecting the dots and the pieces of the puzzle to get a comprehensive
understanding of one’s reality. In fact, if you would have probably noticed, I
am trying to do just that, connecting the seven ways and a making a synthesis
out of it. If you would like to know more in depth, do check out Michael J. Gelb’s
book, “Think like Da Vinci.” It’s definitely worth reading.
St. Irenaeus said, “The glory of God is the human
person fully alive”, I don’t think there’s a better gift that we can
give back to our dear God than making the best of what we have and trying to
live to the best of our ability, thereby giving glory to Him.
