Passion v. Practicality: Intended Dilemma or Partners in Disguise?

There comes a point in everyone's life where he or she must make a decision: to follow through with what he believes is better for him (the choice that society looks upon generally as good), or to follow through with an unfullfilled passion with the intent of maintaining it for the sake of doing it. And then, he becomes stuck between two choices.

There is common misconception that these two choices must always oppose each other. Society tells us that it is better to strive for an academic goal and a economically better goal because it raises our position in life. But think about it. If everyone were to strive to become doctors, lawyers, bankers, politicians, or even the president of the united states because of the money and power involved, our society would be pretty messed up. We wouldn't have those eccentric painters or writers that provide with the guilty pleasure of originality, creativity and change. We wouldn't have efficient garbagemen or waitresses or store managers who really enjoy what they do. Some people simply lack the motivation or the 'talent' involved with manipulating and cheating people in politics. But that's okay. Because contrary to what standards society imposes on us, not all of us are going to meet the bar.

The problem lies in that parents push their children too much. Sure, it' s okay to teach a child that he or she should be diligent and cunning. But if that child isn't too bright, or if he simply lacks the motivation to move ahead in life, there will definitely be an occupation that fits him well. Sure, he may not own Microsoft, but he may as well use his talents to be an amazing airport manager, because thats what we need right now more than any corporation owner or whatnot. Our society seems to simply discourage or look down up such occupations, and I don't know whether it is because we live with capitalist principles or that's just the way evolution works, but I know, deep inside, that it is wrong. We should not shun the common person for living a decent life and really enjoying what they do. The problem is tha when we think of survival of the fittest, we tend to believe that it is always the person with the most money who is successful. I beg to differ.

There's something special about genuinely enjoying your own occupation. Or whatever it is that you choose to do. I mean, loving what you do is the key to happiness; if you are simply doing something because you think it'll make it you happier in the future - you are completely wrong. If you believe you sacrafice your time, your efforts, and all that jazz... for 'happiness,' then you're a complete joke. Ever hear of the phrase, "the ends justify the means?" Yea, there's actually a meaning behind it. The phrase wisely tells us that what we achieve is only as big as how much effort we put into achieving the goal. But frankly, if we don't enjoy the experience of getting there... then it wouldn't be worthwhile goal. But then again, not all people value the idea of working hard and suffering a little bit when considering an 'enjoyable experience.' I don't know. maybe i'm a little bit more masochistic than everyone else.

The point of the matter is, we shouldn't base our decisions on what we plan to do based upon what we think will make us richer, or better off on life. There's a lot of power in being great, even awesome, at what you do best. It may not necessarily be Secretary of State (though we honestly need a better one of those) or President (yup, we need another one of those too), but it may be the common man that has the most power. After all, our country is based upon the decisions of common man, to an extent, because our happiness is important to those close to us. Unless you enjoy being masochistic, you shouldn't try to sacrafice most of your life to get maybe a position or millions of dollars. As long as you're living, why don't you enjoy life as it passes by? Stop and smell the flowers every once in a while. Because maybe 10 years from that moment you stopped and realized that happiness and satisfaction with self was more important thatn withering away with numbers, you might have made the best decision of yourself. I'm not saying that you should change your expectations or anything. Sure, strive only for the best! But perhaps, you should look and them and change them so they are more realistic. Because its when we make unrealistic expectations that we fall the greatest.