{"id":406,"date":"2020-07-04T11:10:37","date_gmt":"2020-07-04T11:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/?p=406"},"modified":"2020-07-04T11:10:37","modified_gmt":"2020-07-04T11:10:37","slug":"our-deeds-determine-us-as-much-as-we-determine-our-deeds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/2020\/07\/04\/our-deeds-determine-us-as-much-as-we-determine-our-deeds\/","title":{"rendered":"OUR DEEDS DETERMINE US, AS MUCH AS WE DETERMINE OUR DEEDS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cIt takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.\u201d<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Benjamin Franklin<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

From the cradle to the grave, the life of every\nindividual is a string comprising of the beads of deeds we complete during the\njourney of our life. We have the opportunity of making decisions at every\nmoment of our lives, we determine our deeds. In the unique conundrum of life,\nit is our deeds that shape us, in every manner possible till our death\u2014the\nmelange of our deeds is what remains after we pass away. We determine our\ndeeds\u2014but our deeds are also in turn the reflection of the collegiality of the\nquintessential core of our mind, the core of our heart and the analytical\nreasoning provided by our brains. It is a reflection of our ideology, our sense\nof deciding what is right and what is wrong\u2014in the short, medium and the long\nterm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me cite an example to drive home my point.\nEach and every one of us felt ecstatic when we watched the highlights of the\n2011 ICC World Cup final at Wankhede Stadium where then Indian skipper Mahendra\nSingh Dhoni smashed a six off Nuwan Kulasekara to finish off things in style,\nleading India to our second World Cup glory after Kapil Dev\u2019s lions achieved\nthe feat in 1983. Mahi\u2014as he is affectionately called\u2014has been known to be one\nof the finest captains of all time to have led any side in the game. His\ncaptaincy career has been a medley of risks, risks which would have been\nregarded as jokes, humiliations had they not paid dividends\u2014Joginder Sharma\nbowling the possibly most crucial over in the inaugural edition of the T20\nWorld Cup, Hardik Pandya bowling the final over against Bangladesh in the 2016\nWorld T20, among many others. These decisions are a mere reflection of the\nimageries he creates in his mind. He takes risks, many of which pay off and\nmany don\u2019t. But the reason he is a fighter in every sense of the term is that\nhe could have played it safe when faced with a risky situation. Many of his\ndecisions irked experts in the cricketing world, and many fans as well. But he\nhas shown that he trusts all his players\u2014leading to decisions which are looked\ndown as gambles by others. But in the end, his decisions may or may not have\npaid off, but his deeds on the field did reflect on the flames of valiance,\nconfidence and trust in his players, the flames that shone majestically behind\nthe masquerade of \u201cas cool as ice\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another example in this regard is Rafael Nadal,\none of the greatest tennis players of all time. Since his childhood in\nMallorca, he has had to face many hardships under his uncle and coach Toni, who\ndemanded more and more from him, proving to be a hard taskmaster. As he grew\nup, his career has had its share of bumps\u2014mostly in the form of injuries,\nespecially concerning his left foot. In his autobiography \u201cRafa My Story\u201d he\nhas spoken of situations when on a night before a high profile match, he felt\nincreasing pain on his left foot and at some point of time, the pain felt so\nextreme that he had made up his mind on forfeiting the match. But deep inside\nhim, his inner voice spoke, \u201cYou can either do what the rest would do in this\nsituation, or stand out by playing and winning\u201d. He eventually chose the latter\nand went on to win the next day. As Robert Frost wrote, \u201cTwo roads diverged\ninto the woods\u2026\u201d, he was in a situation which demanded decisions\u2014two kinds of\ndecisions leading to two kinds of deeds. The one he chose reflected who he\nwas\u2014a born champion, a fighter in every sense of the term. It may or may not\nhave backlashed at him\u2014but his deed, his decision to stay strong and play, was\nsomething that made him stand out from the rest, and as he said, \u201cThe desire to\nwin overtakes the pain once I\u2019ve started playing.\u201d Our deeds are answers to the\nquestion, \u201cTo how much extent can we go for our desires, our dreams?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We make mistakes in making decisions and that is\nperfectly human in nature. These decisions, once they get translated into\ndeeds, may prove costly. These deeds reflect the confusion within us, the war\nthat goes on in our mind among the probable decisions we can make on a\nparticular situation that demands action, and it often leads to mental pain,\nstress and eventually depression, once we pay the price for such a mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a solution to this\u2014a remedy and a cure\nto prevent such stress getting on to us when we are faced with a situation that\ndemands decisions, which, once they get translated into deeds, will make a heavy\nimpact\u2014for the good or for the bad. We need planning\u2014devise all the decisions\nand calmly think of the pros and cons of each and every one of them, what will\nhappen once they get translated into deeds. Then after analysing, tabulate them\nas plan A, plan B, plan C and so on, accordingly, based on decreasing order of\nmaximised positive and minimised negative impacts. But there is a catch in\nthat, in the sense that in many cases, if not most, the situation will demand\nquick execution, and thus this significant analysis has to be done in the\nminimum time possible. When a certain plan is executed successfully, it will\nonce again lead to certain situations, which demand decisions again, which once\nthey get translated into deeds, will similarly have far-reaching consequences.\nSo, it is our deeds that reflect on us, show us what we truly are and\nsometimes, distinguishes us from the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us take the example of the Chief Executive\nOfficer of two companies\u2014one which has established itself as one of the\nmega-tycoons of the industry and the other which has piled up huge amounts of\ndebt, and reeling under losses it has suffered in its parley. We have an idea\nof what the operations management team, the R&D team and the marketing\nteam, among others, do in the company. But what about the CEO? What is the\nimpact he makes given that he gets fat pay cheques at the end of every month,\npossibly more than most in the company? The CEO plays the role of a director of\na film, where the actors, cameramen, makeup artists and other parts of the crew\nare analogous to the  operations team,\nthe marketing team, the R&D team among others. The CEO has to make\ndecisions\u2014decisions regarding each and every aspect of the company. He is\nbrought in with the view that he has that \u201ceye\u201d, that extra foresight which\nmost in the company lack. He may not be the best technical person in the\ncompany, he may not be some marketing trailblazer\u2014but he is a visionary whose\njob is to take decisions which, once taken lead up to deeds that have direct\nimpact on everybody involved\u2014the employees, the clients, the management board\nand the owners. Now returning to our example, the CEO, or a successive line of\nthem, of the former company have been able to make bold decisions when the\nsituation demanded, coupled with their crystal clear foresight and rational\nthought process. On the other hand, the CEO(s) of the latter company have to be\naccountable to everyone related to the company regarding their decision-making\nabilities, their deeds have landed everyone in the company in trouble and are a\nreflection of their lack of foresight and adequate rationality.\n\nIn conclusion, I would like to say that when we die, we will stay in the\nhearts of our loved ones. But time will remember us, judge us and even\ncriticise us based on what we have accomplished in our lives. No one is\nperfect, but our deeds do go a long way in establishing who we really are, in\nthe sea of billions and billions of those who everyday are trying their fortune\nin their respective domains; quoting Mahatma Gandhi, \u201cLive as if you were to\ndie tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever\u201d. People have tried to make\nthemselves immortal in the lives of others by carving tombs, statues, monuments\namong other things, but the waves of time have washed away everything,\nshattering their hopes in the process. But a life of noble deeds serves as a\ncandlelight in the deep darkness of time. It is our deeds that reflect who we\ntruly are\u2014we need to aim for excellency in that, if not perfection, only then\ncan we be successful in carving our name in the hearts of people even after our\ndeath\u2014only then can we remain alive forever, beyond time, beyond everything.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.\u201d \u2014Benjamin 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":408,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406\/revisions\/408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}