Hey Readers,
Firstly, apologies for being away.. You see, this Masters programme is getting a bit challenging. Without wasting time to outline my work here, let us move into a topic which I think has been on my mind for a long time but I never got the opportunity to write about it.
Life: A matter of convenience or beating the Odds
So though I have always been thinking of do people take decisions in life or make choices in life simply because they are convenient? it is something that has bothered and made me ponder upon what really matters to people? I am writing about this today because of a very interesting conversation I had with a friend, due to some experiences and to help my readers reflect on some decisions they took in life. After all this blog is not only about me, it is also for my readers to reflect and hopefully take away something from it..
More often than not, I have come across people who fear taking a decision which requires one to be persistent, which is time consuming or which in short requires going against the convenient option. Why? I ask myself... I think the answer lies in the question itself.. CONVENIENCE..
This word may seem small and simple as it simply means something which is easy or simplifies matters.. however, it cannot be as simple as that after all. When we do something convenient, I think we do take a back seat from going that extra mile. Sometimes, we take a convenient decision or make a convenient choice which may be superb for us and our convenience but unfortunately it ignores the other person in the trade off and also the larger good. The convenience option I think is a result of modernization because in these times-
we shop for convenience
products are marketed for convenience
we follow a certain society and culture because it is convenient
we decide travel options as per convenience
we meet people and decide places to meet as per convenience
we also decide who we wish to be around based off convenience
we also decide our political parties in a democratic set up based on convenience..
All of the above is done to save time and more important to not fight against the odds.
Therefore, though I don't completely disagree with the aspect of convenience and perhaps it makes sense to take decisions and make choices for convenience, let us step back a little and think more about these decisions or choices.. What do we lose when we take all our decisions based on solely the convenient option.
We may lose the support of some valuable people, we may also lose that sense of potential of a humankind to beat the odds and challenges and sometimes which is the worst to happen we may become selfish in our decision, thus ignoring the larger good.
Let us think of this through an example which is appropriate at this point since we are in the month of Muharram (commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain)
Imam Hussain is a known figure to Muslims and non Muslims alike he had two options-
the first convenient option was to turn a deaf ear and blind eye to the problems of the people and the injustice they were facing. In this case, he had to just look after himself and his family and forget the world- it did not matter- there was no need to fight for the people.
The second was to fight for the larger good, for the people and against injustice the people were facing due to some decisions made by their ruler- Yazid.
Well, as we all know he chose the second and most inconvenient option which led to not only his family's brutal death but also his own life came to an end. He did not choose the most convenient option and that is exactly the reason various historical figures like Mahatma Gandhi have looked upon his ethos as an inspiration in their struggles for the larger good.
The above example will hopefully illicit some reflections in your mind-
When did I take a decision which was not only about keeping me in the decision making process?
When did I go with an inconvenient option for the larger good?
Which decision of mine did affect someone negatively or positively?
Which decision did I fear to take as it required me to beat the odds/ was challenging and time consuming? what decision did I take seeing these challenges?
Did I completely step back or did I think of the bigger picture?
These questions will hopefully make you think once more the next time you choose an option simply because it is the convenient one.
Life after all is not simply about convenience, it is about having the courage to beat the odds and seeing the larger good :)
Firstly, apologies for being away.. You see, this Masters programme is getting a bit challenging. Without wasting time to outline my work here, let us move into a topic which I think has been on my mind for a long time but I never got the opportunity to write about it.
Life: A matter of convenience or beating the Odds
So though I have always been thinking of do people take decisions in life or make choices in life simply because they are convenient? it is something that has bothered and made me ponder upon what really matters to people? I am writing about this today because of a very interesting conversation I had with a friend, due to some experiences and to help my readers reflect on some decisions they took in life. After all this blog is not only about me, it is also for my readers to reflect and hopefully take away something from it..
More often than not, I have come across people who fear taking a decision which requires one to be persistent, which is time consuming or which in short requires going against the convenient option. Why? I ask myself... I think the answer lies in the question itself.. CONVENIENCE..
This word may seem small and simple as it simply means something which is easy or simplifies matters.. however, it cannot be as simple as that after all. When we do something convenient, I think we do take a back seat from going that extra mile. Sometimes, we take a convenient decision or make a convenient choice which may be superb for us and our convenience but unfortunately it ignores the other person in the trade off and also the larger good. The convenience option I think is a result of modernization because in these times-
we shop for convenience
products are marketed for convenience
we follow a certain society and culture because it is convenient
we decide travel options as per convenience
we meet people and decide places to meet as per convenience
we also decide who we wish to be around based off convenience
we also decide our political parties in a democratic set up based on convenience..
All of the above is done to save time and more important to not fight against the odds.
Therefore, though I don't completely disagree with the aspect of convenience and perhaps it makes sense to take decisions and make choices for convenience, let us step back a little and think more about these decisions or choices.. What do we lose when we take all our decisions based on solely the convenient option.
We may lose the support of some valuable people, we may also lose that sense of potential of a humankind to beat the odds and challenges and sometimes which is the worst to happen we may become selfish in our decision, thus ignoring the larger good.
Let us think of this through an example which is appropriate at this point since we are in the month of Muharram (commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain)
Imam Hussain is a known figure to Muslims and non Muslims alike he had two options-
the first convenient option was to turn a deaf ear and blind eye to the problems of the people and the injustice they were facing. In this case, he had to just look after himself and his family and forget the world- it did not matter- there was no need to fight for the people.
The second was to fight for the larger good, for the people and against injustice the people were facing due to some decisions made by their ruler- Yazid.
Well, as we all know he chose the second and most inconvenient option which led to not only his family's brutal death but also his own life came to an end. He did not choose the most convenient option and that is exactly the reason various historical figures like Mahatma Gandhi have looked upon his ethos as an inspiration in their struggles for the larger good.
The above example will hopefully illicit some reflections in your mind-
When did I take a decision which was not only about keeping me in the decision making process?
When did I go with an inconvenient option for the larger good?
Which decision of mine did affect someone negatively or positively?
Which decision did I fear to take as it required me to beat the odds/ was challenging and time consuming? what decision did I take seeing these challenges?
Did I completely step back or did I think of the bigger picture?
These questions will hopefully make you think once more the next time you choose an option simply because it is the convenient one.
Life after all is not simply about convenience, it is about having the courage to beat the odds and seeing the larger good :)
