Unpassioned
March 14th, 2010The satisfaction of sitting back after a long and arduous task of house spring cleaning alone - Priceless.
I was just thinking about my passions in life.
I think about those people who are born into richer families; who are blessed with various opportunities to explore their passions. They get to learn various musical instruments, play various sports, go on excursions and outings, take up hobbies like photography, .
And now that they’re all grown up, its not so much of “living the high life”, but they are busy pursuing their passions in life. Some make it their full-time job/biz, with fruitful results.
Then again, I wasn’t short of such opportunities in life. I just didn’t pursue them to the fullest. Most of it because of pragmatic reasons. I had thought that without the safety net of a rich family, I had to cast my passions to the wayside and study a safe course and pursue a professional (read: safe) career.
But what’s so steady and safe about the world now? Nowadays being safe and steady isn’t enough, in fact it’s outmoded. Its those that are able to take the plunge and risk it all are those that have a chance of making it big. And if they have the passion for it, the higher their chances of success, and utility is all the more maximized. They can have their cake and eat it.
Most of them wouldn’t be able to do,without the safety net of rich backgrounds.
The M-shaped society as described in the wikipedia article rings all too true, especially over here in this small island with a sky-high Gini coefficient. Never has there been another time where wealth begets so much more wealth as now. The game rules have changed. Or maybe it’s been like that all along, and I’m just slow to realize it.
I don’t begrudge my lot in life. In fact, I think its great for me to not rely so much on others to achieve what I have today. But one thing I begrudge is my own risk-aversion, which has stuck with me throughout the years. That attitude has served me well by letting me scrimp and save. Yet it hinders me from various other riskier opportunities.
Now with some safety capital accumulated, its high time to relook at pursuing my passions. The problem is: what passion?

