OUR DEEDS DETERMINE US, AS MUCH AS WE DETERMINE OUR DEEDS

“It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.”

—Benjamin Franklin

From the cradle to the grave, the life of every individual is a string comprising of the beads of deeds we complete during the journey of our life. We have the opportunity of making decisions at every moment of our lives, we determine our deeds. In the unique conundrum of life, it is our deeds that shape us, in every manner possible till our death—the melange of our deeds is what remains after we pass away. We determine our deeds—but our deeds are also in turn the reflection of the collegiality of the quintessential core of our mind, the core of our heart and the analytical reasoning provided by our brains. It is a reflection of our ideology, our sense of deciding what is right and what is wrong—in the short, medium and the long term.

Let me cite an example to drive home my point. Each and every one of us felt ecstatic when we watched the highlights of the 2011 ICC World Cup final at Wankhede Stadium where then Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashed a six off Nuwan Kulasekara to finish off things in style, leading India to our second World Cup glory after Kapil Dev’s lions achieved the feat in 1983. Mahi—as he is affectionately called—has been known to be one of the finest captains of all time to have led any side in the game. His captaincy career has been a medley of risks, risks which would have been regarded as jokes, humiliations had they not paid dividends—Joginder Sharma bowling the possibly most crucial over in the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup, Hardik Pandya bowling the final over against Bangladesh in the 2016 World T20, among many others. These decisions are a mere reflection of the imageries he creates in his mind. He takes risks, many of which pay off and many don’t. But the reason he is a fighter in every sense of the term is that he could have played it safe when faced with a risky situation. Many of his decisions irked experts in the cricketing world, and many fans as well. But he has shown that he trusts all his players—leading to decisions which are looked down as gambles by others. But in the end, his decisions may or may not have paid off, but his deeds on the field did reflect on the flames of valiance, confidence and trust in his players, the flames that shone majestically behind the masquerade of “as cool as ice”.

Another example in this regard is Rafael Nadal, one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Since his childhood in Mallorca, he has had to face many hardships under his uncle and coach Toni, who demanded more and more from him, proving to be a hard taskmaster. As he grew up, his career has had its share of bumps—mostly in the form of injuries, especially concerning his left foot. In his autobiography “Rafa My Story” he has spoken of situations when on a night before a high profile match, he felt increasing pain on his left foot and at some point of time, the pain felt so extreme that he had made up his mind on forfeiting the match. But deep inside him, his inner voice spoke, “You can either do what the rest would do in this situation, or stand out by playing and winning”. He eventually chose the latter and went on to win the next day. As Robert Frost wrote, “Two roads diverged into the woods…”, he was in a situation which demanded decisions—two kinds of decisions leading to two kinds of deeds. The one he chose reflected who he was—a born champion, a fighter in every sense of the term. It may or may not have backlashed at him—but his deed, his decision to stay strong and play, was something that made him stand out from the rest, and as he said, “The desire to win overtakes the pain once I’ve started playing.” Our deeds are answers to the question, “To how much extent can we go for our desires, our dreams?”

We make mistakes in making decisions and that is perfectly human in nature. These decisions, once they get translated into deeds, may prove costly. These deeds reflect the confusion within us, the war that goes on in our mind among the probable decisions we can make on a particular situation that demands action, and it often leads to mental pain, stress and eventually depression, once we pay the price for such a mistake.

There is a solution to this—a remedy and a cure to prevent such stress getting on to us when we are faced with a situation that demands decisions, which, once they get translated into deeds, will make a heavy impact—for the good or for the bad. We need planning—devise all the decisions and calmly think of the pros and cons of each and every one of them, what will happen once they get translated into deeds. Then after analysing, tabulate them as plan A, plan B, plan C and so on, accordingly, based on decreasing order of maximised positive and minimised negative impacts. But there is a catch in that, in the sense that in many cases, if not most, the situation will demand quick execution, and thus this significant analysis has to be done in the minimum time possible. When a certain plan is executed successfully, it will once again lead to certain situations, which demand decisions again, which once they get translated into deeds, will similarly have far-reaching consequences. So, it is our deeds that reflect on us, show us what we truly are and sometimes, distinguishes us from the rest.

Let us take the example of the Chief Executive Officer of two companies—one which has established itself as one of the mega-tycoons of the industry and the other which has piled up huge amounts of debt, and reeling under losses it has suffered in its parley. We have an idea of what the operations management team, the R&D team and the marketing team, among others, do in the company. But what about the CEO? What is the impact he makes given that he gets fat pay cheques at the end of every month, possibly more than most in the company? The CEO plays the role of a director of a film, where the actors, cameramen, makeup artists and other parts of the crew are analogous to the  operations team, the marketing team, the R&D team among others. The CEO has to make decisions—decisions regarding each and every aspect of the company. He is brought in with the view that he has that “eye”, that extra foresight which most in the company lack. He may not be the best technical person in the company, he may not be some marketing trailblazer—but he is a visionary whose job is to take decisions which, once taken lead up to deeds that have direct impact on everybody involved—the employees, the clients, the management board and the owners. Now returning to our example, the CEO, or a successive line of them, of the former company have been able to make bold decisions when the situation demanded, coupled with their crystal clear foresight and rational thought process. On the other hand, the CEO(s) of the latter company have to be accountable to everyone related to the company regarding their decision-making abilities, their deeds have landed everyone in the company in trouble and are a reflection of their lack of foresight and adequate rationality. In conclusion, I would like to say that when we die, we will stay in the hearts of our loved ones. But time will remember us, judge us and even criticise us based on what we have accomplished in our lives. No one is perfect, but our deeds do go a long way in establishing who we really are, in the sea of billions and billions of those who everyday are trying their fortune in their respective domains; quoting Mahatma Gandhi, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever”. People have tried to make themselves immortal in the lives of others by carving tombs, statues, monuments among other things, but the waves of time have washed away everything, shattering their hopes in the process. But a life of noble deeds serves as a candlelight in the deep darkness of time. It is our deeds that reflect who we truly are—we need to aim for excellency in that, if not perfection, only then can we be successful in carving our name in the hearts of people even after our death—only then can we remain alive forever, beyond time, beyond everything.

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