Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I The Sunday Guardian I March 30, 2014

Life is the art of right decisions. Successful is the one who is able to take right decisions at crucial moments. A person who is not able to do this shall ruin his life. There is certainly no alternative to right decision-making. Sometimes, man is between reason and emotions. On the one hand, there are emotional pressures from family, friends etc., and on the other side, there is a rational demand.

In such situations, do not waste your time. Follow the practical formula: ignore the emotional pressure and respond to the rational demand positively. Emotional pressures are always manageable, but rational demands do not give man a second option. We should learn the art of management: manage the emotional pressure in a beautiful manner and opt for the rational demand. This is the only advisable course of action in such a situation.

Once a woman wanted my advice on an issue she was facing. She was working in a multinational company and sometimes used to return late from work. Each time this used to happen, her mother would get angry. I told her that her job is a good one and that she should maintain it. Reason suggests that she should fulfil its demands properly so that she does not lose the job. As far as her mother's anger was concerned, that is an emotional problem. So, I told the woman, when you reach home late and your mother becomes angry, tell her politely, "O mother! I am hungry right now. Please give me food and we shall talk later!" She followed this formula, and in this way her problem was solved comfortably.

Life is governed by reason and not by emotions. Man has always been amidst two factors: external factors and internal sentiments. Successful is one who makes his plan by considering the foreign factors. Those who follow their internal sentiments are doomed to fail.