Recently i had invited a few friends home for dinner. During the course of the conversation something about overworking came up..My friend asked me, " I think you are also a workoholic, arent you?". I replied back, "Ya, i presume i am, but it is also because i have limited number of friends here and work is the most 'happening' thing in my life right now".There was a chorus from all the people present, "Awwww, thats too bad...dont say that. we will come to your place to eat even tomorrow"...we all laughed and the evening went on...After they left, i (ofcourse) had a lot of time for myself and i thought about what came out of my mouth spontaniously earlier that evening. Is work really the most happening thing in my life right now?? I started digging into this thought.This lead to a chain of philosophical thoughts....and a new blog was born.
We all search for a purpose in our life. To keep doing something to keep us going or to love someone and convince ourselves that being with them and making them happy is the whole purpose we were born. This thought has always come to my mind," what should i do with this life? what do i really want to make out of it?". Being the crazy person that i am ( hey,i am a scientist u know..), i decided to experiment with it. Here i do have to mention my parents. I am indeed glad that i was born in an Indian family where i was not asked to get married and "settle down" in life as soon as i finished my bachelors. My parents let me choose my way and said, " you are free to decide what you want to do with your life, where you want to go, when and whom you want to marry. But you have to take responsibility for your life.If you want we can also make the critical decisions for you..you can decide if you want that too..". I am sure you can quite easily imagine which option i chose. The more exciting one, which my dear friends is also the tougher one. When parents do this to you ( giving you the freedom to choose), they also steal the excitement of doing something completely..hmmm..lets say socially not so well accepted.When i had to take responsibilities for my own action, i noticed that i was somehow not tempted to do something which would embarass my parents in the longer run ( Yeah i know...lucky parents :P ).
On my journey, i gained quite some selfawareness. I realised that i am not one of the persons who have a clear goal in their lives. I have met some people who have a goal to achieve in life...Some dream of starting their own company, some want to become like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. They have a rolemodel. They want to see the money, buy the most expensive car in the world and fly first class. I am not one of those people who push life to the extremes. They need something adrenaline rushing to keep them interested in life. I have met a few people who want to go around the world, who want to go from europe to china by road, those who want to go wildlife photographing and doing extreme sports.I am also not one of those persons who cannot do without a companion. I somehow fail to understand when i see several 17 to 20 year olds choosing their partner and some also start living together. They also talk about love and togetherness and revolve their life decisions based on the current relationship status (at that young age, people seldom make the right choices). I am also not one of those people who take the safest option when it comes to their future..These guys fear taking risk or doing something out of the box. Neither am i am one of the lazy, pleasure seeking kinds. These people like to only do the stuff that they are most comfortable with and their lives completely revolve around themselves and their likes and addictions.
Now, a major part of gaining self-awareness is also realising what you are not. But then comes the actual question again, what is the purpose of life?? Honestly, i have seldom met people who have asked this question to themselves.At some level we all like to be needed, and prefer being in a place where we think our presence is felt and makes a difference.Have you ever felt a sudden excitement when you saw a piece of news about how you can make a difference to something? Greenpeace, UNICEF, CRY, 'Light a Candle for Jessica', Stop human trafficking campaign, Feed a child in Africa, Educate children in India, Flood relief to Pakistan, Tsunami relief fund for Japan, Stop Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani from being publicly stoned to death.
The thinking process has not stopped yet, But then i came up with a purpose in a broader sense...One day i just said.." I want to make a difference".Appreciate the sweetness in putting a smile on someones face and spread warmth around.Live, let live, make a difference, die. Its a continuous journey where you will come across attraction, love, pain, tender moments, confusion, misunderstandings, success, failure and what not. But the broader purpose should remain in mind.
We all search for a purpose in our life. To keep doing something to keep us going or to love someone and convince ourselves that being with them and making them happy is the whole purpose we were born. This thought has always come to my mind," what should i do with this life? what do i really want to make out of it?". Being the crazy person that i am ( hey,i am a scientist u know..), i decided to experiment with it. Here i do have to mention my parents. I am indeed glad that i was born in an Indian family where i was not asked to get married and "settle down" in life as soon as i finished my bachelors. My parents let me choose my way and said, " you are free to decide what you want to do with your life, where you want to go, when and whom you want to marry. But you have to take responsibility for your life.If you want we can also make the critical decisions for you..you can decide if you want that too..". I am sure you can quite easily imagine which option i chose. The more exciting one, which my dear friends is also the tougher one. When parents do this to you ( giving you the freedom to choose), they also steal the excitement of doing something completely..hmmm..lets say socially not so well accepted.When i had to take responsibilities for my own action, i noticed that i was somehow not tempted to do something which would embarass my parents in the longer run ( Yeah i know...lucky parents :P ).
On my journey, i gained quite some selfawareness. I realised that i am not one of the persons who have a clear goal in their lives. I have met some people who have a goal to achieve in life...Some dream of starting their own company, some want to become like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. They have a rolemodel. They want to see the money, buy the most expensive car in the world and fly first class. I am not one of those people who push life to the extremes. They need something adrenaline rushing to keep them interested in life. I have met a few people who want to go around the world, who want to go from europe to china by road, those who want to go wildlife photographing and doing extreme sports.I am also not one of those persons who cannot do without a companion. I somehow fail to understand when i see several 17 to 20 year olds choosing their partner and some also start living together. They also talk about love and togetherness and revolve their life decisions based on the current relationship status (at that young age, people seldom make the right choices). I am also not one of those people who take the safest option when it comes to their future..These guys fear taking risk or doing something out of the box. Neither am i am one of the lazy, pleasure seeking kinds. These people like to only do the stuff that they are most comfortable with and their lives completely revolve around themselves and their likes and addictions.
Now, a major part of gaining self-awareness is also realising what you are not. But then comes the actual question again, what is the purpose of life?? Honestly, i have seldom met people who have asked this question to themselves.At some level we all like to be needed, and prefer being in a place where we think our presence is felt and makes a difference.Have you ever felt a sudden excitement when you saw a piece of news about how you can make a difference to something? Greenpeace, UNICEF, CRY, 'Light a Candle for Jessica', Stop human trafficking campaign, Feed a child in Africa, Educate children in India, Flood relief to Pakistan, Tsunami relief fund for Japan, Stop Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani from being publicly stoned to death.
The thinking process has not stopped yet, But then i came up with a purpose in a broader sense...One day i just said.." I want to make a difference".Appreciate the sweetness in putting a smile on someones face and spread warmth around.Live, let live, make a difference, die. Its a continuous journey where you will come across attraction, love, pain, tender moments, confusion, misunderstandings, success, failure and what not. But the broader purpose should remain in mind.
And after all this philosophical jing-bang i asked myself once again..So is my work (research) the most 'happening' thing in life right now?? Yeah well,....lets face it...It is! Its as happening as it can get right now..and it keeps me occupied mentally. Havent you met people whom you think needs a job with more work (instead of thinking and talking unwanted rubbish). Hence i decided to be a proud workoholic!
