FUTURE PLANNING
Be Ready with Plan B
IN her book titled, ‘Option B’, Sheryl Sandberg, COO (chief operating officer) Facebook, relates her personal experience about developing resilience amid life-shattering experiences. She says that two weeks after losing her husband in 2015, as she was preparing for a father-child activity, she cried to her friend saying, “I want Dave (her husband).” Her friend replied, “Option A is not available.”
Life gives us two options, one temporary, the other eternal. The eternal option means doing something that continues to benefit you, even after you have ceased to exist. That is, your end in the physical sense, you continue to live in the ideological sense.
The Creator has given to all in this world, albeit for a short period, an opportunity called life. And every person, in his limited lifetime, has unique experiences which are of eternal value. If a person understands his experiences and records them appropriately, this record stays intact even after his death and shall serve as a permanent lesson for the next generation.
Robert Clive was a young, educated British clerk in the East India Company. Being dissatisfied with his job, he once attempted suicide by aiming a revolver at his head and pulling the trigger. However, the gun misfired and he was saved. He then cried out saying: “Surely, surely I am reserved for something great!” The turn of events in his life after this incident made him accomplish great tasks, and he went on to lead British India. He recorded this event in his life in the book Life Stories, thus giving a great gift to succeeding generations. This gift was a lesson: “If an accident takes place in life and it does not kill you, consider it as a blessing. Such an event implies that God has saved you for a higher purpose.”
This lesson was further expounded by British historian Arnold Toynbee in his book, ‘A Study of History’. He holds that if a nation faces a challenge, which is non-crippling, it actually becomes a boost for the nation in terms of result—it prepares the nation for greater heights.
While recommending Sandberg’s book, Malala Yousafzai said: “None of us can escape sadness, loss, or life’s disappointments, so the best option is to find our Option B.” In a nutshell, in the case of a lifechanging event, we must not cling to the pursuit of Option A. We must instead pursue Option B and share our experiences and lessons with the world.
In relating her experiences, Sandberg has set an example of this principle. She has given a living gift to the next generation which shall continue for eternity. Her gift is that we must not pursue Option A (when it is not available), as that will always make us sad. We must instead choose Option B, so that we may be enabled to learn from experiences and move on.
Death does not mark the end of life. In the physical sense, it means an end but not in the ideological sense. Everyone has valuable experiences that he can share with others— we must discover these experiences and then record them for posterity, so that they may be an inspiration to others. Such a concept of life ensures that the journey of life is not one of frustration, but rather one of eternal hope.
There is an English proverb, ‘The end justifies the means’. Perhaps, there is another more relevant principle which may be expressed thus: ‘The end justifies the beginning.’ It is the end result that proves whether the beginning was right or wrong.
Many people begin their lives with great enthusiasm. But the latter period of their life proves that their beginning was not the right one. Their case was a case of miscalculation, rather than one of right calculation. For example, Greek emperor Alexander the Great was a very ambitious person. His goal was to conquer the world. But, his human limitations overcame him and he died at the age of 32 in Babylon, about 3,000 km away from his homeland. The same is true of Adolf Hitler who, likewise an ambitious man, rose to the position of Chancellor of Germany. Then he decided to rule the whole of Europe, for which he initiated a war which escalated into the Second World War. Yet, Hitler could not fulfil his dream, and committed suicide at the age of 56 in a bunker.
There are thousands of such examples. Many individuals start out in life with high hopes, but fail to achieve their goal, and then die in a state of frustration. In the beginning they were hopeful, but in the end they died in a state of utter hopelessness.
‘Right here, right now’ is a formula of life that has gained popularity in the present age. This seems to be a beautiful formula. People have, in general, adopted this principle. Although in the beginning they are very happy, in the latter period of their lives they feel that they have been unsuccessful in achieving their goals. Finally, they fall prey to frustration and die of some fatal disease, and in a state where they have lost all hope and enthusiasm.
Happiness in the present is not the criterion of success. The right criterion is whether a person is able to maintain his happiness and sense of satisfaction right to the end of his life. The value of a tree is gauged by the fruit that it offers when it has reached the stage of full growth. Similarly, the right formula of life is that which can give a person satisfaction till the end of life, and not just for a temporary period.
A tree is known by its fruit, which is the final phase of the tree’s life. Similarly, the pattern of human life will be judged by what it turns out to be in its final days. Never make the mistake of planning for life by taking only immediate gain into consideration. You should always plan by keeping the future in mind.
An individual should first of all discover his own self and then plan accordingly for his life. People generally set their goals out of zeal, but this is certainly not a mature way of making decisions. The better way to decide one’s goal is to understand the realities of life, and then act in accordance with them. Failure to do so is the main reason for people dying in frustration after having set out full of enthusiasm. When they set themselves goals, it was under the influence of emotions, without due consideration. Such a plan does not work for long. It is like a sandcastle which is destined in the long run to fall apart.
