Idealism is DEAD

Idealism is DEAD

Not long ago, if you were an IDEALIST, you deserved a homecoming parade when you go back to your place.  You will be the TOAST of the TOWN where politicians and kibitzers will be hobnobbing with you, eager to prey on the next photo ops.  But that was long ago before the pundits relentlessly pounded on the hollowed and misguided trajectory of the idealists.  These days, try it and you will become 'toast'.

For those idealists whose respective journey became ill-fated ones, they were very much aligned and 'in sync' except that they opted out of the WHAT IFs in our life.  They left no quarters open to entertain those WHAT IFs.  Nothing wrong with their optimism but more often, such optimism goes overboard, way and beyond.  Nothing wrong with ignoring pessimism but totally shunning it off will be a stretch.

If there's one thing we should not replicate in our lives, it's the horse's blinders.  But remember, those galloping horses were fitted with blinders not to blind them but instead, to keep their focus straight across their path as they are vulnerable to disruptions and distractions.  Sounds familiar to us humans ?  Those vulnerability to disruptions and distractions ?

A decade ago, I was working on a daily basis with the CIO of HSBC India as we were sharing the same office for a year and when we were in the midst of planning for capex proposals, he was quite vociferous in standing his ground that  we can paint what we want, all the ideal technology infrastructures that offers us the best of both worlds but the question that always stomped us was this:  Are we willing to wait for 3-5 yrs to achieve all the ideal plans when we can push for a realistic rollout in 2-3 yrs?

That American dream, who doesn't cherish those dreams ?  As the cliche goes, America is the land of milk and honey, literally and figuratively speaking.  And would you believe, I have first-hand knowledge of quite a number of people whose lives have been in a standstill [after several decades] simply because they are so glued at that ideal dream, that dream of becoming an American immigrant one day.  But is that acceptable ?  Our lives will be in 'suspended' mode as we wait for our ideal dream to shape up ?  What does all these tell us ?  That being idealist is laudable to hear BUT having an "ALL or NOTHING"  mindset will be self-defeating because it can cause you a setback where any hopes for you to rebound from that FREE FALL can happen.  In fact, once you get into that FREE FALL, we can agree that IDEALISM is DEAD. ❗❗❗

Free Fall... How not to

 Free Fall... How not to

Surely you were in a 'free fall' before.  Who has not been in that anyway.  Once, I was in that, too.  And extricating oneself from it is tough.  Tough man.  Can you imagine yourself totally force-less and it's only gravity that becomes the only force acting upon it.  And it can't be stopped.  But there's a way out.  Slow down that fall with a drag.  Create more drag.  And that's where the parachute comes into play.

In our lives, the last flickering hope to turnaround will be one steep mountain to climb back because at that point, life seemingly becomes like water, fast slipping through your fingers.  When life slips out of gear, pull all the strings, summon anyone and anything that will give you a life-reviving CPR.

It's true, storms can ravage down and even flatten the terrain but if there's calm before the storm, what is often overlooked is that there is calm after the storm.  And it's an everyday scene, after the storm, the skies are clear, the path gets clearer, even the waters become crystal clear.  Such is life.  After you go through a ravaging storm, wait for it to be over.  Wait when everything gets clearer because that will lead you back to your path to get back on your feet.

Remember, it NEVER rains forever.  All it takes is to cling to every lifeline while the rains will ravage your life.  And block off that fuel in your tank because your tank can't get emptied.  Getting emptied means life will snap out.  And while all cards will be stacked against you in the midst of that turmoil, you need to rev up the engine to keep you going, back on your feet.

Yessirrrr, if there's a calm before the storm, expect things to be calmer after the storm.  There's a catch though.  By that time, things are ravaged.  You got to patiently pick up the pieces and at worst, reboot and restart from Square-1.  But at that point, you're better off because your life has not snapped off.  The last threads of the ropes have not given up on you, not yet anyone.  

Word of caution, though.  After you have picked up the pieces and back on the road to recovery, be super-duper mindful of 'fall risks'.  Fall once, you'll likely survive.  Fall the second time around, you'll be at the edges of the cliff, praying for dear life.

How do you avert a second fall?  Learn your lessons especially when you learnt it the damn hard way.