Deserve and desire

As kiddies, when we badgered our parents to buy things we deeply desired, we were told to first launch on a self-analysis to find out whether we deserved to possess the things we hankered for.

Well, the qualifying factor for being ‘deserving’ spelled – being over-biddable with elders; to comport ourselves well at all the times; to display good etiquette at all places; to ever conform to the set of dos and don’ts prescribed by the elders; and, of course, to incessantly toil with tomes of schoolbooks.

Next, as we stepped into school, we desired to be the blue-eyed child of teachers, besides desiring to be ever ‘in the limelight’ among co-students.But, even here, we were told that the ones to gain plaudits from teachers and to grab popularity among students were those ‘deserving’ students again. And these were the ones gliding high on the zenith of academic success, besides exhibiting incredible talent in everything. These deserving students, who wallowed in stupendous academic success, were the same ones to get into the most sought-after courses that paved the path for future success.

Now, having stepped into professional life, it’s but natural to desire plum pay packs/hikes, promotions and perks. Here again, one would be told by the top brass of the company that one need to be ‘deserving’ to bag remunerations. And to be eligible for being a deserving candidate, one ought to plug away at work with superlative sincerity, besides refraining from doing these – dodge work by shuffling it off on others; take credit for someone else’s work/intelligence; scout for shortcut routes to success; achieve success by offering kickbacks, or wangling unfair favours, or by any such devious means.

Interestingly, the happiness derived from successes through the aforesaid dubious means is short-lived, since there is always that gnawing guilt, when we achieve the success to which we aren’t entitled.

On the contrary, the happiness obtained from the successes we truly deserve tends to linger longer.

Next, even in social circuits, we desire to be immensely loved and recognised by friends and relatives. Apparently, to deserve that love/respect, we need to invest in inordinate efforts by way of radiating happiness, besides being physically and emotionally helpful, too, to people around.Philosophically speaking, when we desire good life/lifestyle, we get it only when we make ourselves deserving for that.

And, how much deserving we’d be depends upon how many good deeds we indulge in.
Now, from the above instances, one can say being deserving is kind of equated with phenomenal efforts. In other words, when we desire to achieve/acquire a thing, be it anything, the chance of getting that thing is directly proportional to the deserving quotient in us, which in turn is dependent upon our efforts involved. So, ultimately, what we get is what we deserve and we deserve what we get.