Let Our Children Pursue their Passion
Way back in 1960, a survey was done in America with a group of 1500 fresh college graduates who had taken up a new career. They were asked why they chose the particular career that they had chosen. They had 2 options.
Option A: I chose this career for the money in
it.
Option B: I chose this career for I am passionate
about it.
Out
of the 1500, 1245 people (83%) chose option A and the balance 255 people (17%)
chose option B. The same group of people were interviewed after 20 years and
they found that out of the 1500 people, 101 people had attained the status of millionaires.
The interesting part is that 100 of those millionaires were the ones who chose
option B, during the survey in 1960 and only 1 who had chosen option A. The
result of the survey was surprising. While people who aspired for money did not
make it very big in life, the majority of the people who followed their
passion, became millionaires. This is not irony, but the law of life. When you
follow your passion, success comes to you naturally and money is just a by-product
of our success. Whereas when your focus is in earning money, by doing a job you are not passionate about or not
happy about, you end up doing an inferior job and never get the expected
returns.
Now
ask yourself, “Am I happy about my career?” Is the work that I am doing, is
something that I am truly passionate about”. If your answer is affirmative then
you are lucky. I know not many people of our generation can say that. For most people, the career choice was made
by parents, teachers or so called educated relatives.
One
of the major challenges of teenagers is that, it is at this age they are very
confused in life and easily influenced by others. The best we can do for them
at this stage is to clarify their doubts and be willing to accept whatever
decision they make. With a clear mind and the confidence that you will back
them up, no matter how long it takes, our children would make the best choices
that are suitable to them. As they grew up, from a toddler to a teenager, we
would have invariably made a number of choices for them, saying that, “I know
what is best for my child”, but this is not something we can take for granted.
We need to take efforts to help them discover their passion. It is a matter of
their life and so let the choice be theirs.
Movies
like “3 Idiots” in Hindi and its Tamil remake “Nanban” goes on to reaffirm this
idea, of following one’s own passion. Still not every parent is convinced. They want
their children to get into popular professions like Doctor, Engineer, IAS,
Chartered Accountant etc. It is a matter of social status to them. Believe me,
there is abundant opportunity available in every field, especially in a country
like ours where the economy is steadfastly booming. There are so many new areas
of interests such as a Radio jockey, TV anchor, fast food business, tour guide,
beauty salon, costume designer, so on and so forth. The possibilities are
endless. There is no job inferior or superior. It is our attitude towards it
that makes it so. Many people have made it big by choosing the not much trodden
path, because there is less competition there.
A
popular quote goes like this, “It is no
shame to be a shoe maker, but it is a shame for a shoe maker to make bad
shoes.” Being a class apart in whatever we do, gives one the needed
recognition and rewards. This can be achieved only when one is passionate about
what he is doing. So, our advice to our children, should only be, “Strive to be the best in whatever you
choose to do.” With this mind set our children would create wonders and
certainly make us proud.
D. Senthil Kannan,
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