Aug 26, 2006

Destiny - Thalaiezhuthutha mathamudiyuma???

In the midst of the mad, mad placement process, I started thinking about why companies select me and why companies reject me? I thought and I thought, and then, since I could not figure a way to explain the infinite wisdom of HR people, I put it down to luck.

Destiny or Maktub as Paulo Coelho calls it… How much of your life do you actually control? What aspects of your present, or your future can you actually change? And, if you do not control it, who else does?

Well, I have always been confused by destiny. In my early days, my mom used to tell me, “Do your best, and the rest will follow.” She said God always rewards honest efforts, and the reward may be late, but it will come.

Then, as I grew up, at one time, I used to believe, that I control my life. That the things I do, the decisions I make etc. decide where I will end up in life.

Then, I got to see people who were not as fortunate… they seemed to have more problems, less opportunities, greater responsibilities to bear… and, God did not seem to be rewarding their honest efforts… atleast He was not being very punctual about it…

I also saw that they were not controlling their lives… lots of things, which they could not have helped, were pulling them down.

So, now I am confused… is it destiny? Is it self effort?

I’d like to believe it is a combination of both… (typical MBA… sit on the fence!!!).
I mean, remember the old parable about a man stuck in a flood, and praying to God to save him. A bicycle, a jeep, a boat and a helicopter come at different points of time, and offer to pick him up… and he still says, “No, I won’t come with you. God alone will save me”. And, then he dies, and goes to heaven. He angrily asks God, “Why did you not save me? I believed in you all my life.” And God answers, “Who do you think sent the bicycle, the jeep, the boat and the helicopter?”

I like that story. I believe one has to make the effort to get into the bicycles and boats that are available and save his or her own @$$. But then, saying that I will swim across the flood, because I want to be a self made person is plain bull. God gives you a boat, take it and save your strength for something better. Maybe, God wants you to be the next Noah. And being proud that I got into the boat and made it is madness and a bit of arrogance… please recognize the fact that God sent you a boat, and He did not send it to a dozen other people who drowned. Why did He choose to save you out of the dozen is something you can never figure out? It is pointless because now you are safe and alive, and the day He chooses someone else over you, you will not be alive to analyze the reason.

As another story goes, LUCK stands for Location, Understanding, Contacts and Knowledge. You should be in the right place, understand what to do when you see an opportunity, know people who will help you get what you want, and develop enough knowledge so that things go right when you get the chance.

The confusion continues… is it my effort? Or, is everything pre-destined?

As someone said, “Believe in Luck. It helps you to explain the success of your enemies.”
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PS: My posts are getting crappier by the day... Hope the Autumns placements get over soon, so that I can blog in peace :)

2 comments:

  1. amazing definition of luck... hope you come up with some useful 2x2 framework to help us evaluate the options... man this MBA thing is getting to you aahn...

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  2. Anonymous12:17 PM

    the only thing i feel that is true about ur post is the PS! :(
    --zzz

    ReplyDelete