As kids, we all dream of being someone we may never really become. The joy of living that dream is enough for us to be hopeful and positive about it. But as we age, we tend to be more careful of what we even wish for, let alone dream of. We tend to be more analytical and calculative about everything. Part of that is inculcated in to us through our education which teaches us to be “efficient” in every way. What it fails to teach us is that more efficiency does not always mean more joy. And no matter who we are, what we do, our basic need is to be happy right? I believe all the decisions we make, even the minute ones like what to eat for lunch, what color shirt to buy etc are in some way related to us having a better life. We all want to be happy. So as we grow up, we tend to make choices that seem more “achievable” so as not to regret later if we fail to achieve it. All that does is it makes the choice easier for us. Ok, so not everyone wants to go to the moon, or invent the next big thing but all of us do want to do that thing which holds special meaning to us. So why do we, as adults, forget about our childhood dreams just because we think they are not practical enough?
I grew up in a middle class family and I watched a lot of television as a kid. I mostly enjoyed watching the discovery channel especially the space-related shows. I remember I wanted to join NASA when I grew up. But when I really grew up, I didn’t do anything about it. And I don’t really know why. May be, because till then I had gathered new interests. Computers and technology were now my thing. So I pursued computer engineering. And now that it’s about time that I’d be graduating with an IT degree, I don’t want to have a job in any of those big IT companies. I don’t want to go work for someone else’s dream. I don’t want to work solely for money where I don’t get to chose what I want to do. Jobs are pretty hard to find, I always used to hear as a kid. And now I know, yes they indeed are. Not hard to find a job to earn money but hard to find a job where you can do what you like doing. I think if we all could understand this fact that we work to live and not live to work, we all would be much better off than we are now. I try to see my life as an event here on planet earth and I try to understand what I’d want to be known as when I am no more, what contributions I want to make to the society I live in and when I can see myself from such a height, I realize I can go on working through my daily routine with much more joy and make decisions that impact my life as a whole. That makes me realize that its knowledge that I am going to live for. Knowing why people do things the way they do, knowing how we can climb a mountain, knowing how to make a machine obey us, knowing about what our ancestors did and benefiting from their lessons, knowing how to tie a tie, knowing how to travel in space, knowing about diverse cultures, knowing about everything there is to know. If I die tomorrow not having earned a single penny, I’d die a happy soul if I knew things I always wanted to know. But if I die being the richest man on this earth not knowing even what made me so, I’d be the saddest soul in heaven. I feel we all must live a life-centric life, never forgetting that living is what we do and that is all we really need to do. Anything else cannot matter enough.
Posted via email from Immature Wisdom
Posted via email from Immature Wisdom
