We may sometimes wonder as to why things don’t go the way we had planned. Some call it destiny, while others divinity. One may neither believe in destiny nor in divinity but it is true that every time life does not take us where we want to go. It may lead us sometimes to a better destination and sometimes not.  

   When things go well for us, we tend to believe that it is all because of our hard work and so on. But, when things go wrong, we are ready to blame God and even others in our life for making life difficult only for us. In my view, it is either of the extremes, which makes it difficult for us to accept life as it comes to us.  

   I do believe that our hard work would normally take us to where we want to go. Hence, it may be a good idea to work hard and be honest in whatever we do to the best of our ability. But sometimes, God may divert our direction to somewhere we do not want to go but may be good for us. One may call this destiny or luck. It does not matter. I think it is our ability to accept things as they evolve and adapt ourselves to the fortunes of life, which would make it easier for us.  

   I have many incidents in my life where I had planned something and something else happened. For instance, I always had a dream of building my home in Bangalore, where I eventually plan to settle down post retirement from work. My job took me to Bangalore in 2005. I bought a flat in 2007 and I thought I had settled down. In 2011, life took a turn in my career and brought me to Mumbai, which I had never planned. I got an exciting job and moved. I still plan to settle in Bangalore. But, this turn in my career and location made me build a beautiful green home of my dreams in Bangalore. Hence, I believe that whatever happens to us is good for us. I am a born optimist and hence believe in this. Of course, when things do not go our way, we may find it difficult to accept the realities of life. But, in hindsight, if we reflect, it may have been good for us too.

   Another incident in my life which turned my destiny was a denial of a promotion way back in 1988. I was not promoted and it really shattered me. I always believed like all of us that I was the most deserving and had worked hard to earn my promotion. When my junior was promoted ahead of me, I felt God was unkind to me. However, today in hindsight, it may have been the best thing to happen in my life. Six years later, I decided to quit a secure public sector job after working there for 14 years and rose in my career as per my dreams. Today life has taken me to where I have always dreamt to be.  

   Thus all these incidents – good or bad may not be planned but it happens. One may call it fate. I would say – ” Man proposes – God disposes”.

S Ramesh Shankar