Do shared beliefs in the society are always true? A tale: not-so-ideal!

'...be on time' is the advice given to me (and probably to all of us) by elders for years now. Though I haven't taken it very seriously by now, last week, paying heed to this could have saved me from a mad adrenaline rush.

It was about 10.40 at night. I boarded the metro from Karol Bagh station. Already late, deep inside, I knew it would be challenging for me to catch another metro from Janakpuri West. 7-8 stops later, down there on the station, I ran abnormally fast like Bolt. Finally, I reached the stairs of platform 3, and from above, I could see the last metro of the day. I had no time to even take a sigh of relief coz I knew - to climb down 30-odd stairs, I would at least need a minute, and that's really 'too much' to catch the train. Still, I started running on the escalator, leapfrogging one, two, and even three stairs in the last half. As I was there on the 6th last stair, my ears heard the 'gates closing' warning beeps. But what actually went to my ears was "Do-or-die." I ran, and ran like a flash...and within a modicum of second barged into the semi-closed metro's door.

Even if I had missed that train, I could have easily got a cab and reached back home. But, the sheer happiness & satisfaction I got after catching the train in the nick of time was inexplicable. 

It's indeed ideal to be punctual, but the reverse is not a crime either. Certain moments do come in our life when we actually can't stick to the so-called ideals, and we have to deviate from the famous ideal road and move to the infamous dangling roads that are full of obstacles. I know it's dangerous to catch a train that has started moving (and you MUST not do so), but catching the train two seconds before its scheduled departure time is NOT that wrong. Definitely, it causes hurry, anxiety, hysteria, and maybe tremendous repercussions at times; but it's not a crime, nor every time a matter of stupidity. 

Photo by Sander Meyer on Unsplash

Similarly,

One more common piece of advice given to almost each of us is to wake up early and sleep on time. I know this actually works. I too have realized the real benefits of it many a time. I remember once when I was grappling with a lesson to complete for weeks but just couldn't; I decided one early morning to do so, and got everything done within a couple of hours. That's the power of waking up early in the morning and getting done with your work. Our bodies are biologically accustomed to work with full efficiency in the early morning hours, but this too is not a universal rule! I have seen people breaking this ideal and touching sky-high successes by working late at night and waking up a lil late (yes, only a little). 

Ultimately, it comes to the same point again that you can break some ideals and make your own path a little different from the shared beliefs, provided that you don't move too much  on the non-ideal path. Unless and until it does not sabotage you or others, there's not much wrong in slightly tweaking the moral sermons, shared beliefs, and good deeds.

Best,

PS: dare not to catch a moving train, ever!