There was a HR Summit I attended just last Friday. During one of the panel discussions the speaker mentioned about a book called “Difficulty of being good” by Gurcharan Das. Of Course! I have ordered for one and waiting to get into my hands.
But keeping that apart I was contemplating on the title while driving back - DIFFICULTY OF BEING GOOD.
As a child I was taught to be good. My parents always emphasized on being disciplined, accomplish, being nice to others, responsible, listening to elders and all that you can name as merits of being ranked as good kid. I always thought that was the world out there which expects you to be ‘good & nice’. Good and nice as per the
external world, its demands and expectations
I grew up with all that noble thoughts of ‘Being Good’. I did all that which makes people around me feel proud of me
Today, when I sit back and ponder on difficulties I have faced of being good
Difficulty of being good is that, people expect you to be constant and consistent with the label all the time. Yet! It was your own setting of that expectation that you will strive to keep up your set identity and always want to be branded and named under being called good.
I was never taught to ‘Say No’. I was never told the definition of ‘what exactly is tolerating’ and how to overcome that. There by, there would have been many occasions of being controlled indirectly, being told what to do, being advised under various markers, painting nice pictures of what is right.
By compelling myself to be good, I have borne dis-respect& loss, I have experienced where people have taken me for granted, I have faced hardships, suffered pain and hurt. When I self-introspect today, I confidently say, ‘Being good’ is nice. But, being good to oneself is fair.
Compromise is courteous, but compromise to what degree!
Forcing one-self for a cause is kind enough, but forcing to what level!
Driving things is wonderful, but ‘Is driving wearing a mask of pushing’!
Self-Imposition with principles is appealing, but is principles in disguise of limitations!
Being remarkable is brilliant, but in the play, are our actions impression-building and striving to keep up the same.
Accomplishments are inspiring, but life does not end if we fail in one of the phase.
Being a role-model is amazing, but counterfeiting grey matters does not help remain in that stature
BE GOOD TO ONESELF is equally important along with being good to others.
I feel - at the end of the episode of life, we are required to answer for our own conscience. When we look back at the life’s pathway, all it matters is the quality of happiness you felt within
You tend to spread happiness to the outer world only when you are happy within. You cannot spread happiness when you are feeling miserable within.
You cannot display enthusiasm when you are feeling apathetic internally
You cannot be motivating when you are hopeless.
You cannot display enthusiasm when you are feeling apathetic internally
You cannot be motivating when you are hopeless.
There are certainly difficulties of being good, probably we are at peace when we segregate it when being good to self and others, then we draw a line between acceptance and tolerance.
This reminds me of few lines of paradoxical commandments – A pragmatic irony of life.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
We are here to hear others and listen to ourselves. Seek suggestions and take decisions. This reminds me a popular Bruce Lee’s quote - I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.”
Probably, living life to our own expectations leads to harmony and that harmony should be congruent with our thoughts, words and deeds. Is Being good….. good enough?
Author : Pratima Jagadeesh
She is a HR Professional and works in a MNC at Bangalore. Her topics of interest are psychology and metaphysics. She is also involved with Counselling and works for few NGO's.
