The Philomath: Purpose

purpose

/ˈpəːpəs/

I.

Ms. Sonal had an effervescent personality. She was one of those teachers who would make you question reality at a very young age. Though I was only nine at the time, I felt quite receptive to the universe in her presence.

On a fine slothful school afternoon, she asked us a question that sent me to oblivion. "Let's talk about our talents today, shall we?!" said Ms. Sonal. One simple yet mystifying word, TALENT. When it comes to 9-year-olds, there's no one in this world that can shatter their idealistic aspirations. Singing, dancing, writing, painting, sports, academics, extracurriculars; the list goes on and on, and trust me they went on and on. 

Most of my mates demonstrated these talents and somehow put me on a pedestal. Shockingly, I had nothing up my sleeve. "Shaurya, let's hear what you have to say!". All eyes on me. With 140 bpm, I managed to screech out just one word "Cooking". I wanted to stand out but spoiler alert, I didn't cook.

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II.

School somehow managed to instill Life Skills as a subject and we students would often have to ask ourselves some cumbersome questions. At a very young age, I was somehow ingrained with finding an answer to a bewildering question; "What is my PURPOSE?".

22 years old, currently studying, and as many would say, at a safe place in life. And I would definitely agree with such people. But once you're out of college, an 'anti-eureka moment' takes place, and suddenly you need to BELONG. My mates who could sing, dance, paint and score staggering grades, are all equally as perplexed as I am. The reason? PURPOSE.

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III.

What many fail to recognize is that finding your purpose is not the first step towards ACHIEVEMENT. Rather, it is the last. What will lead you to find your purpose, is LEARNING. 

Don't be afraid of trial and error. As humans, our only job on this planet is to grasp as much knowledge as we can and use it for the good. DECISION MAKING is never the first step of any process. Being open and accepting plays a huge role in success, as life, often, will not go as planned. Yet it's vital to try new things and even fail while doing so because FAILURE is the only tool that leads to GROWTH.

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IV.

I have come to realize a pattern that is quite fascinating and will make you wonder. Named and coined by me, "The Vicious Cycle". This cycle explains everyone's nature, including my own. 

The birthplace of achievement is comparison. We might say we are very comfortable in our own skin but comparison still gets the better of us. This leads to self-doubt. I question myself, my strengths, my abilities. But sometimes these questions act as negative motivation and are a wake-up call. "Maybe I need to work harder. Maybe I need to put in more hours. Maybe I'm not even trying." This hard work always leads to some personal achievement or the other. And where does that lead to? Again, COMPARISON.

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V.

My whole life I've pursued this so-called 'purpose' and I'm yet to grab it and capitalize on it. But I have gathered this much, my HARD WORK defines me. Nothing I have achieved was given to me on a platter, nothing comes to me easily; I sweat for it, I bleed for it, I work for it. And that is my talent. 

Hard work is my Talent.

Signed 

The Philomath

My Social Media: Instagram

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