Continued from Part 3
“But for a common man, his interests and duties seldom overlap”, the young man interjected. “I, for one, am sure that what I like to do is quite different from what I have to do.”
“And I am not sure how to organize myself or how to handle this?”
It would be hard for me to disagree with the young man.
Given a choice between discharging duties and pursuing interests, I would have no hesitation in choosing the latter. Just like the infinite majority would. But often I find myself doing things that I barely like. May be because I believe that whether I like them or not, I have to do them – for my wellbeing and progress. That belief hardly helps at the heat of the moment, and the feeling of missing something, of being robbed of something, invariably surface on every such occasion.
If it true then, that for most people their interests and duties don’t overlap, would it be possible for them to work towards bridging that gap. May be, slowly, merge them. Would such a journey be possible? If indeed possible then what a journey that would be! Journey from disarray to harmony. Journey away from dissipation towards dedication. From a feeling of being controlled to a sense of freedom, of power.
“Well, there will always be some place to start from”, the old man meanwhile, was addressing the young man. By now they started appearing like an old master and his dedicated student to me. Old master and dedicated student – I chuckled to myself, even as they continued their discussion.
“You can begin by first realizing where you stand. And mind you, that’s often the most difficult part!”
Remember reading somewhere that blessed is the man who knows his own worth and limitations.
“You can start by listing out your roles – personal, professional, social. You can then try to figure out all your duties that those roles demand from you. And then a list of your interests too.”
“In the beginning it may seem to be a bit confusing. You may not have clarity on your roles, or demands of those roles. What appears certain and obvious initially may look shaky after some contemplation. There may be confusion on whether something is a duty or interest. Some roles may appear larger than they actually are, while some others may simply fade away.”
“But this dynamic exercise is important and necessary. You start to be clearer about your roles and responsibilities, and new perspective emerges. The more you revisit and refine this list, the more things get clearer. And if you did that daily, it would not be uncommon for you to find that you list appears significantly different after a month, than what it looked like when you started.”
OK, a list of roles, responsibilities and interests.
To be continued …..
VijVen 