Passion drives better than pride

All of us are from different walks of life, no matter how similar we think we are. Every second of the day moulds us into who we are and what we will become. Some of us are born fortunate while others, less fortunate. The factors vary from health, wealth, principles, morals, to duties and obligations. What we personally deem to be unfortunate, may be deemed by our peers to be a fortunate thing. Nevertheless, our future is not merely determined based on how fortunate we are or have been in life.

It is a common thing between parents to unknowingly brag about their childrens' performances, whether it be in sports, or most importantly, in academic studies. However, unknown to them is the pressure that we face because of it. A good example of this is illustrated in the well known book and movie called the "Joy Luck Club" whereby it depicts how a child's life can sometimes be ruled by their parent's pride. Not only is it the pride of our parents that drive us to excrutiating lengths to satisfy their needs, in some cases, it is our own pride to not be a failure, that sometimes destroys us.

Pride can be a very destructive emotion - once you own it, it's hard to let go of it because of what is associated with it. However, the returns derived from pride driven accomplishments does not always provide us with the joy and satisfaction that can be derived from those that have been passion driven. A lot of the time, it causes more anguish and torment than a person can handle which often leads to depression. It is something that we must overcome if we possess it.

On the other hand is what some us possess, some of us possess and do not know it, or some of us just do not know what it is... is where our passion lies. What we are passionate about leads to great love, joy, hatred or anger. But it also awards us with the enthusiasm to strive to achieve and rewards us with the satisfaction of the achievement. A person who has been passion driven in their task/job, returns a better result because it is what we find intriguing, where we will gain personal satisfaction, and it is this, that we are best at. The only problem that some of us face is finding our passion.

We always compare others to each other and sometimes, even others with ourselves and wonder why we have not achieved the standard or the rank that they have achieved - be it in academics or even on the corporate ladder. But unknown to us is the lack of passion that we have which is the negative factor and affects our performance. I do not think that we can grow to have a passion for something and if we think that we did then it is just foolishness. We are either born with it, or we're not. It's something that plagues our modern society because of the vast career opportunities that are available to us.

Therefore, I believe that our failure and success is largely affected by what our passions are. Each and everyone of us has been given a gift which if utilised, will reward us with much joy and satisfaction which in turn, leads to happiness. How we find out where our passion lies is through much trial and tribulation. In the end, we all hope to have discovered it before it's too late so that we can be truly happy. If we don't, we can still be successful... just not as successful as we could have been.