Passion, Purpose, Pleasure

Today’s post of mine is not about any specific topic or even a story.

I would like to take this opportunity to let everyone know how at times we feel unsure of our own decisions, scared of chasing our own dreams, tentative about our own abilities and hesitant to express ourselves.

Although we all are endowed with almost the same physical and mental faculties, how we make use of them, decides what we achieve out of our gifts.

If you know what you are passionate about you are better than more than 90% of the people in this world, who may not even know what drives them.

If you are following your passion, you are a huge minority less than 0.001% of the world’s population, a very rare group who have moved beyond their comfort zones to follow their calling.

I read a book called ‘The Last Lecture’ by Randy Pausch who was a Professor at Carnegie Mellon University and the book is his biography.

In a nutshell, he talks about his entire life and as he was about to die, decide to record his last lecture working as hard for it as he did for the other ones, probably even more.

The last lecture was given on September 18, 2007 before a packed audience at McConomy auditorium before he died of pancreatic cancer.

When he was not married, he used to visit his sister who had two children and he used to take them for outings.  Once he took them in his convertible and one of them vomited in the new car. 

The car was super expensive and cleaning it and replacing some of the things entailed a heavy expense. As he reached back his sister’s home, she was appalled at seeing what happened inside the car.

He however remained nonchalant, and said something which we all should ideally follow.

‘Always put people over things’

We can always buy a new convertible or fix it, but the experience he has had with the kids was non-replaceable.

The time we spend with our loved ones, parents, friends is what we should value.

In the book Happiness by Design by Paul Dolan, he too talks about PPP.

Pleasure Purpose Principle and through studies prove how we lose value for things over a period of time, but the investment made in experiences remain with us forever.

The watch given by your father may get old, but the emotions you felt while wearing it for your graduation ceremony will live with you forever.

So, find your passion, live it while always putting people before things and you will be happy!!