Passion-driven journey; easy or tough?

Let us define passion in the first place… 

Passion could be anything which you love to do, which stays with you every moment till your last breath. The things which you feel from within, leading to happiness is your passion.

Dedicating long continuous hours to passion is something which you are not forced upon. It is your choice. Pursuing passion is not a work-load, it’s recreation. It does not tire you but energizes you.

According to Wikipedia, “Passion is a feeling of intense enthusiasm towards or compelling desire for someone or something.”

One could be passionate about anything; singing, dancing, reading, playing any sport, playing an instrument, gyming, photography, painting, cooking, and so on…

The feeling of effortlessly following the passion is magical and unmatched. Lucky they are who could discover their passion; Luckier are the ones who get an opportunity to pursue it.

Another face of passion…

There are many things which you can do passionately, but it does not involve money. Following compassion passionately, loving someone passionately, devotion to God are a few examples. But in this post, I am referring to the passion-oriented careers, the fields you are relying upon for your source of bread.

The path of pursuing your passion:

Often, hobbies lead to passion. Remember, hobbies are the things you like to do while passion involves things you love to do. Yes, it might sound similar but there is a huge difference between the two.

The feeling associated with passion is quite intense compared to enjoying a hobby. How? Let us try to dig deep into it.

Reading, writing, singing, dancing, cooking, playing, painting, are some of the hobbies. Say, playing cricket is your hobby. But unless you are a good cricketer and you dedicate your full time and potency to improve and adapt, it cannot be called your passion.

Playing it as a favorite pass time cannot turn you into a successful cricketer unless you follow it passionately. Therefore, it’s important not to hope for the outcome of a passion just by enjoying a hobby.

The obstacles in the passion-driven journey…

There is no problem if you are passionate in conventional fields. What I mean is, if you want to become an engineer, doctor, lawyer or you want to pursue your family business, it is all fine.

But the path of the passion-driven journey can be extremely tough if you want to become a writer, singer, actor, model, photographer, footballer, painter dancer, comedian and the like. In such domains, only finding passion never means you will be able to pursue it and most importantly, complete the passion-driven journey.

Do you know why?

It is because of the 5 major hindrances:

1. Non-Acceptance

Yes, you read it right, ‘Non-Acceptance.’ These fields are still struggling to find acceptance in the first place. In most of the countries especially Asian countries, you just can’t do what you want to do without the acceptance of two sections of people -‘Parents and Society.’

Hard to believe but it is a fact. And this is why you have to go out of the way to chase your dreams, which makes the passion-driven journey a big struggle.

Screw society but the parents can’t be ignored in most of the cases, right?

No wonder, it is the parents’ response which affects you the most. It is the reason why even when you have discovered your passion, you are not able to gather the courage to present your passion as a career option before them.

The problem is that academical fields are easily accepted but the fields of artistry and sports are still struggling to find ways of acceptance. It is quite ironical that we want changes without changing our thinking.

The education system plays a major role in this kind of monotony. You are forced to think conventionally and if you try to cut the chord, you better get ready for a big fight, first with yourself and then with everyone…

What to do?

Straight out, prioritize what is important… your ego or your passion?

If the answer is your passion, keep your ego aside and go all in to make the outside world, especially your parents a part of your dream. Because you desperately need their support.

Submitting yourself to your passion is the best feeling, but without the support of your loved ones, the journey could be extremely painful. Try to make them realize that you can achieve nothing without their encouragement.

Even if you fail, make sure to keep trying. Remember that you will fall again and again on the passion-driven journey. To rise every time without their support would be extremely difficult.

2. Time

Following your passion might be a time-consuming process where the outcome is uncertain. It might test a lot of your patience. In the passion-driven journey, the time-frame to get accomplished cannot be calculated. Success is not guaranteed either.

Sometimes, it might be frustrating playing the waiting game. Most of us quit because of the unknown time-frame and the uncertainty to savor success.

What to do?

There are two options:

i. Don’t unsettle the normal routine. Take out time from your leisure time, free-time, wee hours, midnight hours, whenever you can, obviously depending upon the nature of your passion. Go slow but don’t stop. You never know when the tables might turn and your stars start shinning. Just keep playing the waiting game.

ii. Define the maximum number of time; days, months, years you can give to it. Thereafter, go all in and give your heart and soul to it. Divide your goal into small targets and no matter what, achieve it. Always keep a track on where your passion-driven journey is heading. After the end of the duration, calculate the distance so covered thus far. Finally, make the right call.

Irrespective of the option you chose, acting smart is the need of the hour. Your time as a human being on this planet might be quite less than you think. Always respect it and don’t dream of too far.

3. Money

The bounty of discovering and pursuing the passion turns into a huge disadvantage when it can’t be equated to money. Let’s be honest. The fact cannot be denied that money is the first reason, if not every reason for a happy living.

Likewise, if you cannot foresee the result of your passion-driven journey yielding money as one of the byproducts, there is a lot to ponder upon.  Sometimes, you also need money to pursue the passion-driven journey. Therefore, money can also turn out to be a big hindrance. Having said that, it is absolutely fine if money is not a botheration.

What to do?

Ask yourself:

i. How much money do you need in the passion-driven journey?

ii. How long can you wait for your passion to yield money?

Only you have the right answers to your questions…One important thing, be wary of only thinking about the money. It can lead to restlessness and impatience. It can cause a sudden loss of interest in your passion because of over expectations.

4. Failure

Rest assured, you will fail many times. You might not be used to the taste of failure. Most of you just can’t digest a failure/loss. As a result, you quit.

What to do?

You need to realize quickly that your fight is with no one except yourself. Stop comparing yourself to others. Take the failures positively. Whenever you fail and think of quitting, recall the time and efforts you have put in traveling the distance thus far. It will restore the faith within. Always remember, success is that elusive mask of realization which covers the various lifeless faces of failures…

5. Luck

It is not under anyone’s control. So, there isn’t a lot to discuss in it. But always remember, as they say, luck always favors the brave. Once your answer to chasing your dreams is yes, give it all…

Sometimes, the conditions might be unfavorable and uncontrollable. You cannot have a plan to tackle the unforeseen. Not much can be thought about a spontaneous moment. God forbid, when luck is not in your favor, only you at that point can find ways, adapt to the situation and keep moving.

Just an observation…

Everyone is wired differently and sometimes, even if you have discovered your passion, the road to pursue it can be intensely difficult. The problem starts with the generation gap.

This gap is killing the dreams of many independent and creative thinkers. Moreover, there are some fields which can be new, innovative, time-consuming and above all, they might not earn bread in the first place. These are the reasons why these fields test your endurance the most.

Final Realizations:

You might be a jack of all cards but always remember, A jack of all cards can compete with 4 kings. Commit yourself in finding and following your passion. Refrain yourself from running towards money only. There is no guarantee that you shall accomplish the desired while pursuing your passion.

Therefore, it becomes important to define a time-limit where you give yourself a chance by giving it all. Subsequently, shudder to think, if you realize that it cannot earn bread, I am sorry but switching the focus is the need of the hour, and you need to respect it.

At least,  you shall be one of those lucky ones who got a chance to chase your dreams. At least, you shall have no regrets. You lose, but you lose with no excuses. At least, you will have no one to blame.

I know that the liberty to think only about your passion is a blessing. Interestingly, the only problem with passionate people is that they are not good at thinking anything else with same vigor except for their passion.

When passionate people compromise, they cannot create wonders because their wonderland(forte) is into bits and pieces.

But again, this is how life goes. And it is the reason why I say…When you can’t do whatever you do; start feeling whatever you do…

We took an example of playing cricket as a hobby, so here is a self-realization for you: “How many people are passionate to become international cricketers and how many actually are international cricketers?” Well, your answer is your realization.

My dear friend, the passion-driven journey may not be easy. Defying all odds, are you ready to raise the bars and plunge into the passion-driven journey?

 

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