Jobs

I have failed to grasp the true essence behind working and holding a steady job. I suppose it is mainly because everything in my life has come to me without me having to sweat for it. I have unfortunately grown up to be one of the whack individuals who fail to grasp the importance of a truck load of money in my backyard. I would possibly be as happy in a slum as I would in a mansion. Perhaps, I might be happier in the former.
I shall elaborate on my views here. However, I must warn you, that unless you are a hopeless romantic you might not subscribe to the views I hold. To understand me and my thoughts, ask yourself not why you live but what you expect from life now that you are living. Quite honestly, I have observed three kinds of people:

The first kind do not seem to be bothered with the question of life at all and will continue living as per the paths set before them by their parents or the one their friends seem to be following. These are the kinds that will finish graduation (most likely as engineers) and hold up a steady job for the larger part of their lives. Money seems to drive them but only to the extent of affording a decent roof over their heads, owning one piece of road worthy machinery and marrying a girl of their parents choice.(this last one is generally a forced option because even if they had wanted to, they couldn’t find a girl of their choice cause women don’t generally take up engineering. They are the smarter of the sexes I must concede, at least on this count!)

The second kind ponder long over their existence and are so overwhelmed by the enormity of the anomaly of our existence they adopt an ‘I couldn’t care less’ attitude towards life. they don’t achieve much in life and are often noticeable as the pessimistic and unhappy individuals in the crowd.

The third kind are the ones who accept the anomaly of our existence and instead of being overburdened with the enormity of the situation, realise that the only course of action in their power is deciding how to optimally spend the time allotted to them on the face of this planet. These are the kind that are generally seen laughing and smiling, even at the most daunting hours.

Interestingly enough, there are a majority of people from the first kind who walk this land. The second follow and the third are insignificant in their existence. I shall limit myself to talking about the first and third kind and I would like to quote an sms I received a few days ago that quite suitably summarises the two.
“some people spend all their life doing one thing,
and then there are others who do all things in one life.”
Now comes my question: why would you limit yourself to one field all your life?

There are answers to this question of course. The first one being your responsibility towards your parents and your families. The second one being the need for your basics i.e. food, shelter and clothing. The third one being the all important source to meeting these two i.e. earning money and the general notion being, the more the merrier. The more you earn, the happier and more secure does your life get. To be the richest though, you have to gamble and risk it all and this generally is something that the third kind are good at. Though if you meet the most successful of this peculiar type you will notice that they didn’t get rich cause they were after the money, they just got rich doing what they loved most. So my advice to you is find something you love and pursue it to the best of your abilities. Even if you aren’t the best at it, look at it this way, you wouldn’t be better at anything else!!!
There was this story I heard form someone that helped him quit his job and pursue something that he wanted to. This guy was trekking to some really remote fort in the Sahyadris with his pal and they had lost all money they were carrying with them. When they reached the fort, they took shelter in the lone hut on the fort occupied by an old hagrid. When they set out they next day, they offered him whatever money the had in terms of change and the old man refused telling them that all he valued was supplies that they might carry on them like potatoes or medicine cause so far away from civilization, money mattered little. Ten years down the line when he had to quit his high paying job, he recalled this incident and gathered strength from the knowledge that there was one man he knew who didn’t need money to live out his life. He gathered up the courage and quit to pursue his dream. Just to let you know, at the time he narrated this incident to me, he headed a group of people responsible for corporate development of employee skills through outdoor programmes like rafting, rock climbing and other abstract activities. He wasn’t doing too bad either. He drove a Skoda Octavia, carried an obscenely expensive cell and wore a Citizen on his wrist. So if you ever find something you really love and are having second thoughts about quitting a steady job, do recall this story.
Hope you can earn your millions with this piece of advice from me and when you do, send me a nominal amount (say 0.5% of your worth) as a token of goodwill! Of course should you go bust, I wouldn’t be able to help you out too much cause as you might have guessed, I am gonna be pursuing my dreams too!