WHAT MAKES YOU TICK?

Here I am again after a couple of months off writing…not what I had planned believe me!

However, rest assured I haven’t been wasting my time. It’s redundant at this point to talk about life being hectic. It just is.

I’ve been particularly intentional lately about expressing who I am to the world and myself. It’s funny how unless we’re very lucky to have found out early on what enthuses us, and brave enough to take on whatever that is, we’re very likely spending our lives earning money for a roof over our head and food on the table.

From day 1 we’re conditioned to study / work hard to make a living, a clearly defined frame that doesn’t always factor in how we can add to other people’s lives, how we can impact the world. “Become an IT wizard, and the Silicon Valley can be your playground”; “be your own boss, so you earn the lion share of your work”; “you’ll never be out of job as a doctor, and it pays pretty well”; “civil servants retain their jobs for life, great pension, go for it”…The lack of aspiration in the advice we’re given for our steps into adulthood is baffling; it’s as if our sole purpose in life is to pay the bills!

Obviously, there are exceptions as always; some of us have been blessed to have had the adequate guidance towards their life missions early on. Thankfully it’s never too late for anyone is it? First books are written by forty-somethings or even later; we’re getting keener and less afraid of career changes, and side hustling is becoming mainstream (coined as “passion economy”).

We’re living in a time where finding one’s purpose, ikigai, raison d’être is all the rage; we’re encouraged to go for it, take the plunge and feel like we matter, that we’re actually fully participating in the making of our world, whatever scale that input may be.

My humble opinion is that we all have one purpose which is offer love to other people, as cheesy as it sounds. I believe the way we do it is by using what makes us tick, our innate talents, to touch others in some capacity. Hopefully we’ll be able to help the next generation understand that life is about more than money, more than owning a house, chasing security or the 1^st million (whatever the currency, this word impresses) … Working for financial security is primal, intentionally impacting others while doing it – even on the side – has to be extremely rewarding. It’s the self-fulfilment for me!

Side note, I’m writing this piece on 28/8, the day of hell for all train travellers in England. Absolute chaos in the train network, but hey ho, we’ll eventually make it to the destination, by hook or by crook…

What makes you tick? Please share!