Thursday, October 1, 2009

The Vocation of Our Vocation!

Rotary is a great teacher. It is the philosophy of humanism and life. It is the opportunity for a Rotarian to live life to the fullest, from the core of one’s heart and soul. A journey that cleanses your innards, your thought process and pitches you deep into the field of empathy, care and concern. A learning process that unravels the truth of one’s own self and inculcates the ideals of service in everything that one does.
The Rotarians who rose to lead our organization had been great visionaries and thinkers, who innovated and experimented with new ideas to make this world a better place. And fundamental to this entire exercise had been “the recognition of the worthiness of all dignified occupations”, and making it a vehicle for doing good to the society by pursuing ethical norms of conduct.
“Ethics and business don’t go together” is a common refrain of many. But over the years, many Rotarians have proven them wrong by following ethical conduct in their business or profession and there are numerous instances to quote. Ethical conduct requires a deep understanding of one’s own vocation, how it impacts the lives of all the stakeholders that are a part of one’s business or professions. Rotary catapults any vocation into the next higher level of practice by making it a tool to serve. The term ‘serve’ itself is all about being honest and humble. The ethical conduct in one’s profession that Rotary enjoins every Rotarian to adopt, leads one on to the true path of selfless service, making one a better human being at every step.
As October comes, the Rotary world focuses on vocational service. But this is a process that is not to be confined to the ‘celebrating’ or ‘observing’ the month through some standard activities. It is the point from where we can start a new journey of self-realisation. And for those who do wonder about ethical dilemmas, refer to the ‘Four Way Test’. Apply it today. Apply it every day. And you will get the answer. CJ

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