I received a comment on my blog “Communicate & Not Hide” requesting for more articles like this one. I am glad someone out there in the web world appreciated my humble write up 🙂
Life is not a bed of roses! Cliché sounding but true. I have given up making plans for the future as elaborate plans without tweaks seldom work given the volatile economic circumstances. Things change as quickly as technology changes. Most times we are playing catch up.
I read an article of how Borders Bookstore closed but how Amazon is still raking in sales! The internet or E arena is a thriving hub of business. Soon, this too may be overtaken if no one continues to strive to stay relevant as a new technopreneur may come up with a new game plan.
So, is making plans really relevant? Yes and No.
Yes when your plans are continuously reviewed and updated. I call it tweaking! For example, investment plans. If you are not razor sharp and being in tuned with the market sentiments, often times one loses out. That’s me. I have no time to review what I have invested and hence I have learnt to put it into safe instruments with determined returns. I am risk averse.
The more hungrier the investor is, the bigger the risk appetite. Sadly I have none to play with.
On life, is there a planned course? Hmm, first it was to finish well with a good educational background, then build wealth and find a soul mate. Well, the soul mate never happened and so a lot of people are single and happy being single. Marriage is not what it can make out to be. Some marriages who broke down irretrievably told me that spouses controlled their finances with an iron fist! Again, no right or wrong here but perception. If the spouse is a spendthrift and cannot budget properly or tend to spend without thinking, then the other spouse has a right to control for the sake of the family.
However, it is no – when a spouse just wants to control the purse strings of a husband (No) or vice versa if he is a philanderer(Yes). So, it truly depends on the situation.
I have seen people who behave in a certain way with their spouses and another way with others. A regular Jackal and Mr Hyde syndrome I call it. But then, is there any real “person” to begin with as I have blogged before in saying that All the World’s a Stage and in it, people take differing roles to match a situation.
Big successful conglomerates helmed by CEOs are talented in making different circumstances work. They wheel and deal well and it makes them successful. Similarly, a relationship is the same. One has to wheel to gain the trust of a spouse and deal when the spouse gets agitated.
There are no right or wrong answers to me. But it depends on how the situations pans out and what it required to make it right.
If a mistake is made, own up. If never hurts to say SORRY as it is a word. Half the time the people saying it may not mean it but says it to placate a given situation.
Beng is an example I draw from. As a motivational speaker, there is no true face to Beng. I doubt no one knows him, not even himself as he is a versatile chameleon, changing with the environment and saying the things to suit the audience. Is he good then? Yes and No again are my answers.
Yes, if he is a clown and as a profession in clowning, what he say does not matter as it serves not to hurt anyone – it was just pure and simple clowning.
No, if he is perennial liar and does not take remorse or ownership of situations. I frown often times on the situations he diffuses with insincerity and it leads to further complications. It is easy for him to have diarrhoea of the mouth as what is said could be the result of a laxative effect but the post trauma sets in when he realises the electrolytes are not replenished and dehydrations sets in.
Perhaps this was the case when a huge deal was recently scuttled for Beng as a result of his own folly. It probably brought his downfall too. But as a motivational speaker, he would soon be able to rise on stage and sell his failure as his future success. Well, he ain’t wrong too as he is glib and yes, motivational speakers tend to turn around very quickly like a rubber ball. But remember, at the end of the day, elasticity can be worn.
I suppose for people like Beng, it must take time and the environment to wear him down. Until and unless this happens, he will continue to wheel and deal like no tomorrow and make a living – even successfully too. I remember he once told me, life is not black and white – it has grey areas and he thrived on the grey areas to make his wealth. It does not matter who you trod upon or destroy along the way, but so long as Beng survived. Now, this is not nice. There must be a sense of conscience and care. I believe in the turn of tides and I await the day for when this happens. As to if, there is someone there to offer him a leg up or support, I suppose a kind soul will come along.
Life is not about making plans. Life does not often turn out the way you want it to be. I hate to sound like a broken record, but destiny is often said to be a word of resignation to life. I throw destiny to the wind. Life is a “now” and a “then” – I live one day at a time and prepare for the future but knowing full well that planning does not often lead to a desired end. My goal posts tend to shift too as my ideals change.
The world is a changing one. As it evolves, we must evolve with it but the trick is, knowing when to evolve and how to evolve with it!
