PURPOSE, PASSION & PROFESSION

Can they be mutually exclusive?

Often, the conversations among working mass or the job aspirants veer towards the failure or possibility of mating job with passion. Probably because I grew up in a family where majority worked in a government job and were proud and happy about the work they did, I never thought it a challenge to be happy with whatever work I do. For us, I guess it was the satisfaction and pride in the quality of work we deliver, whatever that might be. I have seen the pride and satisfaction in my father when he talks about his work in SLV, ASLV, PSLV, Agni missile etc. and the same feeling I have seen reflected in my sister regarding her work in AG’s office for more than 2 decades. I have been equally happy in my project management experience in software industry as I was in teaching in school as I am now in training life skills for under privileged for free. Finally it comes down to our ability to deliver what is required to our utmost satisfaction.

I strongly believe that everyone is born with a purpose… We can call it with any other name.. destiny, genius, inherent talent and so on.

But there is definitely one or more quality we are all born with, which can be explored to the maximum potential if we are able to recognise and work on that.  This inherent genius matches with a profession, then your contribution to that industry was your destiny. If that inherent talent was to do with how good you are with people, then may be your destiny is in philanthropy.. If you have inherent quality to connect to nature, probably your destiny is to save the world.

Passion, I believe, is something which makes us happy irrespective of whether we get any materialistic benefit out of it. It’s associated with the concept of “flow”. Just doing the act or being in a state, by itself is self-satisfying and you feel alive, engaged and empowered. This need not be anything to do with a profession again.  One may or may not be considered to be good in what they are passionate about. But how does that matter if it gives them happiness. One can be passionate about music, art, gardening, helping out people etc. without converting them to a profession.

The problem arises when one insists that he or she needs to get the quota of mental motivation, self-worth, emotional satisfaction, happiness and whole loads of other stuffs from the job. 

What a job demands is our capability and ability to execute and deliver the work with the optimum quality. And what that needs is our aptitude, intelligence, personality, talent and commitment.

We don’t need to tie our self-worth and all our emotional needs to the job. We can always seek them in our personal relationships, in our personal pursuits and interests and in our contribution to our community and world as whole.

Our purpose in life might be achieved via our inherent talent, passion or our profession and need not be one and the same. It can be as simple as nurturing nature or people, bringing beauty to the world though various forms of art, spreading knowledge and awareness to people via education and experience. Or you might be one of those whose destiny in life is your intellectual contribution to an industry.

All you need to think for a minute is: how much difference are we making by insisting that the profession has to be my passion? Are we missing out on making a difference to the world by not recognising your inherent genius or potential in a totally different area? Are we depriving us of the sheer happiness and satisfaction you might get from pursuing your passion even though it doesn’t have a financial gain?

Should we try to link our ability or talent to profession,  passion to happiness and our purpose or destiny might fall into place if we keep our heart open to the possibilities.

Wishing you all a passionate and purposeful life!