Passion

Is it just me or the mindset of the vast majority is this: “get a job that pays well and stick with it”?

Yes, I do understand the value of money especially given the atrociousness that is the economic crisis at the moment. Everything requires money, thus the more money you generate – the better.

But is it really? I have been approached and queried numerous times over the possibility of joining the educational force as a teacher. They always attempt to convince me of the job over the talent that I have with it and the amount of money generated from it. And I’m never convinced; it is great that UBD gives me the chance to undertake teaching practice as it gives me the opportunity to explore the life of an English teacher; the responsibility that I would carry and the amount of task pilled on me.

But that’s not entirely what I seek for from this whole experience. I seek for the passion for the job; yes, I enjoy teaching, but I lack the passion for being a teacher. Passion for a job to me is the essence; the drive that would wake me up every day and keeps me looking forward to going to work; the ecstasy that would keep me going. And I have yet to garner that from being a teacher. I want to go to teach every morning with the feeling that I get from going to work as newscaster at night.

What’s talent if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing? What’s money when you’re not happy? Do I really want a good paying job that doesn’t make me happy? That’s the question I often ask myself.

When I expressed this to a friend of mine, all she said was this “You can’t have everything in life”. That’s true, but what if you have the opportunity to make a difference – to do something you’re passionate about instead of just going after the money.

You can’t have everything in life:

Good paying job that I don’t enjoy versus a job that I love that pays less.

That still follows the whole concept of not having everything – so yes, life is thus about choices; you can’t have it all but you get to choose which one you want to gain and which you would want to let go.

I want to go to work feeling elated – I want to go to work with a smile on my face. I want to be happy about my job; so far, I have yet to get that feeling from being a teacher. I know what to do and how to do it, but I’m just not excited about it.

Having the passion for the job that you’re doing is extremely vital – at least to me. You don’t get that a lot here; a lot of people think that you’re job is simply as it is; just a job. No, it isn’t – it’s part of your life. Yes, having a lot of money is great, but for me, I’d trade money over happiness any day. When you see me, I probably come out as materialistic due to how I represent myself, but there’s more to me than that.

Materialism is entertaining, but would you really feel content with just that? I think life has a much bigger purpose than to just cater to your materialistic needs – thus why I seek for my more – I don’t know what my purpose in life is, but that would unveil in time, for now, I know that I want the job that I would be doing is something I’m very passionate about. Regardless if I’m not going to get as much pay, at least I would be happy. Job satisfaction is not just about the money.

You know what else I would always like to do? Charity work – that’s my aim this year, I’ve always said to myself to serve a better purpose and do more charities. Start small – start local and maybe someday; UNICEF? Charity work in Africa? Who knows..

Kind Regards,
Muaz Al Rashid