Making Peace with the P's

How do you look at the key life components of

#profession

#personal

#passion and

#pursuit?

Here is my point of view.

When we first enter career-hood, most likely in our 20s, it gives us new found financial joy and coinciding with the freedom that adulthood brings, it gives us a high. Soon we find comfort in it and settle in beautifully. We weave our personal life around this and our parents/partner/friends are extremely understanding even if some of the interaction with them takes a back seat.?

Since this part of our life takes the best part of the day, after which there is just energy left for dinner and TV or social media, any earlier passion like sports or arts or fitness takes a beating or we have lesser time to devote to them.?

In the 30s, as our family grows, increased responsibility and many a times, guilt, ensures we give personal life the due attention it needs, for a period of time. If we are able to sustain this, great. But many a times this is also when we grow in our career and take on new responsibilities; either the thrill to prove ourselves or the pressure to prove ourselves could challenge the precious focus we look to maintain across all aspects of life. If we are unable to, it leads to stress and family might not be so understanding at this time as they were earlier in our career! This is when proper planning and communication with spouse and immediate family will help and pave the way for increased trust and transparent communication in the long run as well.?

And are you thinking - pursuit, eh?!! Maybe this is the wisdom that comes with age but I have added this to the list of life’s components. This is pursuing and practising skills leading to personal growth and even enlightenment! Could be age old practices like meditation and yoga or new age adaptations like spiritual travel or integrated lifestyle resorts. Anything that leads to introspection, peace, empathy and unseen strength.

First off, let me acknowledge that priority will vary for each of us and will change at various stages of our life. If personal life is your top priority and you are ready to pace your career accordingly or even take a break at some point, that’s a great choice. If giving more time to career is your priority, yes that’s a great choice.?

But if you are torn by societal pressures, here are some thoughts to ponder over.

1. We all have a choice. Let us acknowledge our own power to decide irrespective of what life throws at us. While some choices can cause short term pain, there will be long term satisfaction that you took the steps you truly wanted to.
2. Choices vary. What is right for someone else might not be right for us. We first have to introspect and identify what makes our hearts sing, what are the principles we like to live by, what commitments are important to us, how we would like to evolve as a person. Unless we know self, nothing can make us happy.
3. Not all of us need passion! Let us not put pressure on ourselves if we do not have an intense pull towards anything. Life can be joyful in just living and letting live. If we do have one, let us not miss an opportunity to keep at it and experience the joy it can bring. Slot time for it and publish it to the world so you are not disturbed during that time. Let go of FOMO and that in itself will free up more time than you can imagine.
4. And finally, believe that you deserve it. Enjoy all your successes. If you are recognised at work, don’t feel guilty that you had skipped a vacation that year. When you are at the PTM where your kid is praised as a model student, don’t think about the meeting you just skipped to be there. And when you do that headstand after 3 months of rigorous practice, take a photo and share that moment to inspire others. We deserve every bit of happiness and success that comes our way.

Whatever your view point, do execute it and be happy. Don’t worry about balance; life is a blackboard to write and draw (and re-draw) based on what is right by you, not a tightrope to stress over and sweat how to cross!