THE DESIRE TO SECURE OUR FUTURE



















“We will bankrupt ourselves 
in the vain search for absolute security.”
-  Dwight D. Eisenhower


One of the greatest drives of a human being is the desire to secure his future! I am not spared from this desire. Like all my fellow-humans, most of my deeds and misdeeds come from this desire…

The reason I studied… The reason I pursued a career – by being employed or self-employed… The reason I started saving and investing… The reason I kept expanding my business… The reason I got married, had children… The reason I made a house, a second and a third house… The reason I insured my life and health… The reason I started believing in Gods and Goddesses, going to a worship place of a particular faith… The reason I joined social groups and, even, joined a gym… yes, everything has its root in my desire to secure my future…

True, it is one of the greatest drives of all human beings. And, there is absolutely nothing wrong in that.

I have already confessed that, like all my fellow-beings, I, too, am driven by the same desire… I want my future to be as secure as possible - as stable, as sound and as peaceful.

But, the problem with the future is that, it is very, very unpredictable. All forecasts are only forecasts. Nobody can tell, in certainty, what is going to happen from twenty years from now. Why twenty, nobody can predict what can happen tomorrow… even, the very next moment. All that we do is we go by the Law of Average… We also assume a lot of things, take a lot of things for granted.

Whenever I become conscious of my drive to financially secure my future, which makes me find a hundred ways in which I can make more money and multiply it – yes, whenever I become conscious of this drive, I look at some wealthy people around me who made loads of money (I would not be able to make one billionth of it even if I desperately try to!)…
Donald Trump… Subrata Roy… Vijay Mallya… Vijaypat Singhania… Mafatlals…

Well, Trump may boast of having a lot with him. But, I will never desire to occupy the kind of ‘space’ he has. I will never want the kind of space Roy and Mallya have, either. Whatever happened to Singhania’s wealth and his desire to provide a secure future to his son? Where is the once glorious Mafatlal empire?

In a matter of a day or two, Infosys investors, including its revered founders, have become poorer by more than 30,000 crores!

What goes up comes down. It has to!

What is stable then… What is secure?

However philosophical – and even impractical and naïve – it may seem, the moment in hand is the only stable and secure thing… If I am unable to enjoy this moment, in whatever manner I find it, yes, if I am unable to relish it, honour and celebrate it – then, it would be impossible for me to find joy and security in any kind of future state of affairs…

The kind of future most of us try to pursue, and find our happiness in, is a big myth. A lie!

So, the deep realization in my soul, that my future security lies not in the size of my wealth but in the wisdom that I can be secure even without it… that, I will be, always, taken care of by the Universe… Yes, this realization is the source of inner security… This space is worth dying for and living for. Anne Morrow Lindbergh, describes such a state with these beautiful words:
“For happiness one needs security, but joy can spring like a flower even from the cliffs of despair.”


GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Niyothi Lobo


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