A year ago, I came across a movie titled “Good Will Hunting”, starring Matt Damon and the amazing Robbie Williams (God rest his soul). The movie is a classic, one that never really gets old. The story is one of a young janitor named Will Hunting who also happens to be a self-taught mathematical genius. After being discovered by a Professor of Mathematics in the university where he works, his story changes. At about the same time, he meets a girl at a bar and hits it off (they eventually become lovers). After chequered relationships with the Professor, the girl and his therapist; he does the most unpredictable thing ever, he passes up a high quality job that the Professor got for him and he leaves off to re-unite with the girl. He passed up a role that could have given him accolades and opted for something that gave him a sense of fulfillment.
There are a lot of things that make the movie so special – the acting, the plot; but one of the things that left a mark on me is the fact that he left the “successful” life and chose love and happiness. We live in a fast world where people are goaded into chasing accolades relentlessly just because they have the ability to do so. A person has an IQ that’s over the charts? There’s no reason why he/she shouldn’t be dealing with complex equations daily; there’s no reason why he/she shouldn’t be making advances in the field of research. Don’t get me wrong, the electric bulb, the device used in typing this article out, the …..(I can go on and on but I’m sure you probably know where I’m heading with this) are all due to breakthroughs in science and technology and we have the relentless go-getters to thank for that. However, a question keeps popping up. Should we do what we do because people expect us to do so? Or should it be bcause it brings us some sort of fulfilment?
What is success? The definition depends on the person you ask, however we can all agree that happiness should be a valuable metric used in measuring it. If you’re a type A individual that loves what he/she does, do not hesitate to wreak havoc; however, if you’re the kind of person that just loves the simple and uncomplicated life, you shouldn’t hesitate to go for it. Happiness and fulfillment should be important determinants when approaching a new field and not the fear of being out of place in an environment of overachievers. You won’t only be doing yourself a favour by having passion in what you do, the end products of works and projects carried out by people who have little or no passion are almost always appalling to behold.
Do what you love, love what you do. Just make sure you make money while at it because lack of money most likely won’t bring fulfillment. Life is funny, isn’t it?