Is life always fair ? Many of us may feel differently. Some of us, who have not yet faced inequality or unfairness may vouch for life’s fairness, while others may feel otherwise. This is the beauty of life. It is not the same for everyone . Each of us live life through our own experiences.

If one loses a young colleague, friend or relative due to cancer, you are torn apart. Especially if that person has been a good human being, you feel life is not at all fair. Then you see you see a young and healthy colleague, who keeps fit, has no vices and dies of a heart attack – you are convinced on the unfairness of life.

On the other hand, when you read about a young student from a slum topping the civil services exams or representing the country in Olympics, you realise, how equitable life is and vouch for goodness and fairness of life.

Life is like that. While it is fair for some, it may appear unfair for others. Each of us go through our own share of fairness and unfairness. We feel good when life is fair to us and feel cheated when life treats us unfairly. This is human.

Now, the question before us as what we could do to ensure that life is always fair and equitable to all. I am a born optimist. I always have believed that life would be better tomorrow than today. Even while going through some of my toughest moments in life like losing my parents or missing a promotion in my career, I have never given up.

It may be easier to write about being an optimist than actually being one when you are tested by the challenges of life. However, I believe the true test of a human being is when we go through the hurdles of life. It is easier to drive on a freeway but tough to wade through slushy hill side during the monsoon. Life is no different. It is at these times, we need to calm down, think of all the good things that have happened to us in the past and express gratitude.

Gratitude helps us to be grounded. It strengthens our resolve to face all the unfairness of life. It gives us the courage to stand up even when we are knocked down multiples times in the bout of life. It is like the sportsperson who loses a match but resolves to work harder for the next learning from the failures of why he lost the previous match

While we go through a challenge in life, it may be difficult to be grateful or reflect on our mistakes. But, as soon as we are able to pick up ourselves from the doom and get up and walk again, that is the time to sit down and reflect. It is the time to express our gratitude and put in our best foot forward.

I have always believed that hard work pays for itself. Sometimes, we may not be able to correlate our efforts and the concomitant rewards which we may be expecting. But as long as we are sure of our efforts, results can never be far behind.

As in the photo above, you may sometimes wonder “Why it happens to me only ?”

We need to learn to be fair to ourselves even when life is most unfair to us. We need to learn to get up every time we fall down. We need to learn form our mistakes. Last but not he least, we need to bow in gratitude.

Life is fair or unfair, the way we perceive it.

Time to change our perception.

S Ramesh Shankar

15th Nov 2020