Wednesday 14 May 2014

A rant on "your life's calling".

In the days that I doubted my own capabilities, when I wondered whether I'm doing what I'm supposed to, God lent me a hand through helpful advice from people around me.

The truth is, only a handful of people can be truly certain of their dreams. Sometimes, we don't even know our own aspirations, or our life's greatest purpose aside from the generic need "to be happy". I'm definitely one of those people. I'm one of the people who sometimes find myself in a meaningless job with no motivation or satisfaction. I'm one of those people who sometimes lay awake at night wondering if I'm gonna spend the rest of my life feeling like this.

I envy people who have extraordinary skills, like my good friend Elsa who is a piano maestro, or those who can confidently say, "ever since I was a kid, I've always loved singing, so this is what I want to do for the rest of my llife." Or even those folks who can fix computers, talk gadgets, play video games and become really, really good at it. Wouldn't it be easy if each one of us is blessed with one extraordinary skill?

My problem is that I dabble on every little things all over the place, and I end up not getting really good at anything. I took organ class, art and drawing class, cooking lessons, did scouts throughout my school years; tried diving and rock climbing, learned Chinese, and other nonsense but always stopped halfway because... I didn't think they were for me. I stopped doing things before I even got the chance to see if I were gonna be any good at them.

I've always known I have a short attention span, but this is just ridiculous. I think out of everything that I have tried doing, the only few things that stuck with me 'til now is how much I like writing, traveling and sharing my experience. But even those things I can't do consistently and something always seems to get in the way.

In short, I think I'm someone who likes to always keep moving. Maybe not forward, more like sideways until I end up getting lost. And in those times, when I questioned myself whether 'marketing' is my forte (being in this line of work for 4 years now - which seems short in a span of a lifetime, but long when you come to think of those years spent of almost half your 20s), my sister said to me that it's really okay to feel this way, But don't just stop and admit defeat. Instead, continue dabble and figure out your true passion, While at it, try to do your best in marketing, or in whatever your line of work is. Because until you find something else that you can be really good at, who knows what you are capable of now?

Suddenly the song from Pocahontas crossed my mind:

How high will the sycamore grow? 
If you cut it down, then you'll never know.

I think, eventually only a few people in the world were born with an extraordinary skill. I think most of them achieve then through hard work and dedication.

And another quote I would like to share with you is something from my new boss:
Never stop learning. The day you stop learning is the day you stop growing.

So, dabble away and find your true talent.

Or at least, don't ever stop trying.

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