By Rupam Gogoi:
Undoubtedly, people reading this are the worthy present and a worthier future of our society and the nation. However, let me put across a disturbing fact. You have an education. You are following a career and doing a great job at that. But did you follow your heart till this point or was it just some process that has brought you here or even some circumstances because of which you are here?
What you do now is great. But is this what you stand for or are you someone else, supposed to be doing something else? To make it simpler, go through the following:
You have been guided and goaded: This happens when we never make a single plan for our own life and depend on second and third parties to decide what is best for you.
You wanted to but couldn’t: You wished to do something different but because of circumstances you came into doing what you are doing now.
You still crave for it: You are doing what you are now, but sincerely and seriously wish to go and do what you had to give up.
The very basic fact is that most of the educated masses today actually follow education and consider work as a way of life rather than a way of making a life. Bluntly put that’s sad and bad. You are good with what you do but until and unless your heart’s aspirations are being followed you never stand for what you are doing. The result being that the value that you add to what you do is less.
So does that mean you have to give up what you are doing? The answer is definitely not! That is highly impractical and impossible in most cases. But to actually add value to your work and education, whatever that might have been, you should start following your aspirations. Doing that makes you add value to what you do currently and at the same time makes you stand for who you wanted to be.
But how do we do that? A simple way is:
1. Go on with what you do. You had selected it and not having your heart in it is unfair to those you are affecting by your work. However at the same time always ask what you wanted to do and find out your true calling.
2. Along with your work and regular course of life now try to incorporate what you would love to do, in small ways. For instance, you felt you could have been a singer but could not be. Well, why worry. Start singing with like minded individuals in the evenings. Try organizing small shows for family and neighbours. And there, you have already started doing what you wanted to stand for. The same can be done in all other cases too.
3. Now you actually stand for what you aspired to be, and also perform with value on what you do on a day to day basis. That is because once you follow your heart, even in the smallest of ways, the learning you derive from it also transits into what you usually do.
And thus you do stand for something that you wanted yourself to be.
To be frank; all of these sound good in theory, but practising them is really tough. And once you start following your aspirations, it’s even tougher. But then, just ask yourself whether you would love to do this or do you want to just stick on with what ever you are doing even if that’s not what you wanted, and you will immediately start back on your way.
Conclusively, identifying one’s aspirations and following them is a necessary event to derive value from what you do and to add value to the work are doing. So even if it is late, do analyse; is this what you want or do you want to be more and an answer will be on its way to the question: And you are?