Deceptive Dialogues: Dilemma in Life

Continued from Part 1

 “I continue to feel like something is missing. There is some unexplainable emptiness about my life now. I am struggling to see the purpose behind my actions. I am caught between what I would like to do and what I am being forced to do”.

The older man was smiling. Not an offensive smile, an understanding one. The kind of smile that communicates assurance, generates hope and brings peace. A smile seemingly backed by the confidence of having solutions to problems.

“I understand what you mean. We have all gone through similar emotions ourselves.”

Not surprising, I thought. I go through that all the time.

“We often read that life is all about choices. Every moment, consciously or sub-consciously, we continue to make decisions, we continue to exercise a choice. Most people don’t dispute this. But very few realize this fact. It is one thing to know a fact and another to realize it. It is one thing to know about certainty of death and another to face it.”  

The old man continued,

“One of the bigger challenges in life is to draw the fine line between pursuing your interests and discharging your duties. Most people visualize their duties to be in conflict with their interest, and that they are mutually exclusive. Successful people seldom differentiate between interest and duty. To them, they both appear the same.”

Pursuing interests and discharging duties.

Would life appear more pleasant, more fulfilling or satisfying to the blessed few like Tendulkar, for whom both interests and duties seem to be along the same path? I started to ponder.

To be continued …..