Speeches :
Thought for the Day. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
The speech delivered by RID Ashok Mahajan at the Board Meeting at Evanston on 24 Jan 2008.
Life is often compared to a
journey, battle, game, race, voyage, etc. Uncertainty is common in all. Northing
is certain in life. There is no security in life. Therefore, “expect the
unexpected ” in life, as life favours only the prepared mind. Failure to expect
the unexpected may find you unawares in the sea of life, not knowing where to
go, why to go and how to go. 
“Desire (expectation) is the root cause for all suffering” said Buddha. We form expectations around our friends, relatives and nature. We expect friends to understand us, relatives to support us and nature to be favourable to us. When expectations are not fulfilled and when things go against our expectation, we suffer. We are hurt. We become revengeful, resentful, ruthless rebellious, reactive and bitter. These negative and destructive feelings eat up a person, because these do more damage to the person in whom they are stored than to the person they are directed.
Hence, do mot worry too much about certain events in life realizing that “ every event in life is a comma, the full stop is too far to see ”; think and feel about life because “ he most lives who thinks the most , feels the noblest; plan for life because “ he who fails to plan, plans to fall ”; share your life because “ it is like an echo – what we send out comes back to us ”; Take life as a gift because “ we have no choice but to accept life, the only choice is how ”. While doing these, have this attitude – “expect the unexpected – lest expectation weigh us down.
Don’t fill your heart with bitterness over things that go wrong in life. Fill your heart with gratitude for the things that went right. Forget those you may think have hurt you, remember those you know have helped you. And repay any good you receive with all the good you can give. And then you can be truly thankful on every Thanksgiving Day.
ASHOK
MAHAJAN
DIRECTOR – ROTARY INTERNATIONAL
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