heyDale Carnegie’s concept of “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living” which has impressed me a lot is the law of averages. By this, almost every spell of misfortune can be offset by something unexpected elsewhere. It is up to us to recognize it.
In my 73 years of existence, I have faced a mixture of both positive and negative. Whenever I faced setbacks, I tried to focus on Shelley’s famous lines, “When winter comes, can spring be far behind?” Likewise, whenever I’ve been at a loss, I’ve tried to console myself, “Things could have been worse.”
The other day, I deposited a check in favor of a close relative. I thought very soon I was going to get a pleasant message from the other party. Yes, there was a call – but not from the beneficiary. Instead, it was from an official of the bank where I handed over the check. I was told that I had entered the wrong account number on the deposit slip. The officer’s alertness helped me rectify a major error. Otherwise, the amount would have been credited to the total stranger. I couldn’t even complain about a possible wrong payment, as the wrong account was entered by me.
Another incident happened about four decades ago. It so happened that just before boarding a train to Hyderabad at the New Delhi railway station, a friend handed over a bag to his people in Hyderabad. When the train reached Secunderabad station, I decided to go to my parents’ house. After about an hour I found that the bag must have been left in the train itself. My always practical mother suggested that I go to Hyderabad station and raise my problem with the staff there. They will definitely help me. To my surprise, I found out that the train had stopped at an outside signal for over an hour. As soon as it arrived, I managed to locate my compartment. The bag was still there.
Earlier, whenever trains were running late, I used to blame the railways. However, it was such a delay that saved me from potential embarrassment.
It cannot be completely wrong to say that most of our misfortunes can be caused by ourselves. This brings to mind one Wag’s statement, “If you can kick the person responsible for most of your problems, you won’t be able to sit still for six months.”
Thus, if you are able to emerge safely from a self-created situation, shouldn’t you owe it to your good fortune? Also, should we always associate good fortune with material things such as lottery earnings (which, in any case, are now almost banned), or with inheritance of an asset?
There have been a few situations where my carelessness has come to my rescue. Once, about 10 minutes after I left my house, I found out that I had left my wallet behind. Once I came home and saw that I had not switched off the gas cylinder. Thus a possible disaster was averted.
To the point of “Things Could Have Been Worse”, I am reminded of the story of a man whose expensive hat was blown off a busy street by a gust of wind. There he was crushed by a heavy truck. Still, he was completely unconcerned. His reasoning: “What if my head was under the cap when the truck passed over it!”
jarmoorty@gmail.com