It is not without reason that our forefathers taught us many values like honesty, discipline, hard work and punctuality. With the passage of time, we have conveniently forgotten most of these values, and find it very difficult to cope with the demands of modern day life in homes and offices.
Yet, the time has now come to take a holistic view of life and examine life as a totality of several experiences, where we live not only for ourselves, but for others too. We should positively do something to make our lives more meaningful and, in this connection, there is nothing wrong in learning from others, particularly from the people who matter most in our life, in terms of role models.
Role models are available aplenty even today. Many honest politicians even today exist. The Prime Minister is himself known to be a person who is not at all corrupt. He is a known hands-on man, who sets the pace for other to follow.
And we have our own role models.
Learning what is best in a given situation
The press is often very active in pointing out the sacrifices made by some role model, even in the Government circles, particularly among people who have resisted the political pressures but stuck to their guns to uphold the truth. It is a fact that those who live by such high standards do not compromise at all, and hence live a total life of sacrifice in which they do good for the entire society, through their actions.
Similarly, we need to develop a "what next?" questioning attitude. For example, even if a person is just studying in the first year of say, commerce degree in a reputed college, it is pertinent to ask, "what next after thirty six months?". Once this becomes a habit, he or she will be far better prepared to take a holistic view of life and the several opportunities.
It has been noticed that in the North of India, a known thrust is there among several educated people, to prepare for the IAS examination, with a very positive mind-set, even while studying in the first year of the Bachelor's degree. This is sheer hard work, all the way. It does not mean that success will come so easily. It can be very easily seen that a holistic view of the macro situation, with all answers to the question, "what should be done now?", is the key to success.
Similarly, many young MBAs are now giving up lucrative careers to form what is now called "Social Entrepreneurship" This is a superb alternative for doing something worthwhile by serving the society, but also making a small profit in the bargain. The commercial objective is not the main agenda, which must be clearly noted.
We need to understand the pitfalls of too high an ambition too. The ambition should be realistic, and should fit our holistic view of what can be done, given the situation and the dynamic variables that define the particular moment and the opportunities available.
Having a balance of mind
This is another important imperative. We all know that having a balance of mind is important for a holistic perspective. It is not that mere meditation is the answer. It is the belief in God, combined with a very practical view of life, that will enable forming of the vital balance.
What is meant by a practical view of life? It is not assuming that we all need to he unethical to grow. Just the opposite. Having a practical view of life simply means that we, as individuals are just prepared, to put in a series of actions, through systematic hard work, to achieve our goals, both short term and long term, no matter what the circumstances are.
This is one reality that should dawn on us. How can we achieve the balance? Not by going to some Art of Living Course, or by going after some Godman. This is not at all required.
The balance of mind, can be achieved through good human relations, humor and a helping attitude that we openly exhibit, but without any commercial considerations. Only if these things are in place, can we achieve the balance of mind. Remember, we are not running away from the commercial world.
Very recently, thousands of citizens lent a helping hand by doing manual labor in cleaning up a river near Coimbatore city. It was all voluntary labor for a noble cause. Such initiatives help a great deal, in taking a holistic view of life.
The end should always be the focus
When there is a noble objective, it is often seen that the end is always in focus and many good happen. For example, a public-private entrepreneurship model of Self-help groups in Tamil Nadu, that has now made thousands come out of the vicious poverty circle, has been very well documented.
Such should be the focus of any activity of ours. If we look around, we can easily identify a huge number of people who will be really keen on making a big difference to the lives of others. They are often misguided, they are not able to understand what to do, and are confused.
If only their energies in the positive direction, there will be a huge difference to what we call as a holistic view of life.
Philosophies can be of some use too
Most of us imagine that spirituality is all about philosophy. To some extent, this may be true. But what is most important is that we explain to the youngsters and those who matter, the crux of the core principles of such philosophies. For example, the crux of every religion is that we all hail from dust and go back to dust.
What does this mean? It simply means that we should not indulge in any harmful activity that is against society's interest, or against the interest of specific individuals or groups. Unfortunately, we see a good deal of such narrow minded action of individuals, that completely negates whatever development takes place, anywhere.
We need to draw the creative energies of people, around such core philosophies and then try to mobilize public opinion about what should be done in specific circumstances, and how. Young people require mentors. They are quite flexible, and even the IT crowd is very much sold on doing something to the society. Witness the commendable amount of social contributions made by giant IT companies such as Infosys Technologies and WIPRO. Learning from such excellent examples, we should move forward and do something.
Hence, developing a holistic perspective of life is the only way to make a difference to the way we live and let others live. By doing so, our younger generation can also get involved in meaningful work. The entire society will stand to gain, which is the ultimate objective of developing a holistic perspective of life.