A medical college professor, putting a student
through an oral examination, asked him, “How
many of these pills would you give to a man who
had suffered a heart attack?” “Four,” replied the
student. A minute later, he piped up, “Professor,
can I change my answer?” “You can, by all means,”
said the professor, looking at his watch. “But,
regrettably, your patient has already been dead for
40 seconds.”
Certain matters in life are so critical that they
require the appropriate step to be taken without a
moment’s hesitation. But an instant decision must
also be a correct one, otherwise the consequences
could be drastic, and could mean a lifetime of
repentance.
Our moments of decision-making are often very
similar to our attempts to board a train. Catching a
train requires preparation. We have to pack up our
luggage, making sure we take the right things with
us, buy a ticket, arrange transport to take us to the
station and we must, of course already be on the
platform at the appointed time, otherwise we are
surely going to be left behind. For the train is no
respecter of persons. It arrives on time and departs
on time, and pays no heed whatsoever to tardy
passengers.
If we are like the medical student who
was caught on the wrong foot because of lack of
preparation and who was much too late with the
correct answer, the train of life will go on its
scheduled course and we shall be left standing,
wondering what to do next and how to avert the
disastrous consequences of our failure to get on
board. It is, therefore, necessary to be prepared for
all eventualities in life. That means assiduously
acquiring a good education and losing no time in
gaining useful experience relevant to our chosen
occupations. It above all requires a mental and
physical readiness to seize opportunities when they
come our way, and to be firm of purpose, never
permitting one’s energy to be frittered away in
pointless vacillation. (116:2)
--Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
( Ref - The Moral Vision)
