Passion or Caution?!

Passion: Any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling!

It is a word that many of us use very frequently, a word we identify with almost every day of our lives, actually every moment. Live life with passion, work with passion etc are sentences we often hear. It is motivating to hear this and inspiring to see some people demonstrate ‘Passion’!

However we do not have a clear definition to this passion, as in every word, it is strongly subjective. A person working with passion is often judged by the result that the work produces. Most of the time it is the very result/reputation that determines the intensity of passion that the person displays… It is the visual of successful (or not) people that tells us something about passion. We take sides; some take inspiration from winners and some from underdogs.

In reality, it is the individual that knows about his/her passion and the biggest threat to that is the attempts to make the world around understand that he/she is passionate. It is here that the actual game starts, the game of life. We set out to prove to the boss, the peer, the friend, the spouse, the child, every acquaintance etc that ‘I Have Passion’. Sit up and take notice!

Now, I have to move on to the topic that is very close to me (us); corporate work culture. I believe Iam passionate and I believe that so is everyone else. But strangely that is not going to get me anywhere (so say a few wise souls).

The expected passion at work is,
1. Working long hours
2. Making the boss look good
3. Being available 24/7
4. Doing what the boss says, the boss is always right - a sure-shot way to grow ;)

I have always had a different opinion and Iam always strongly defending it. I had a discussion about this with one of my colleagues recently and I was trying to understand this particular ‘Corporate Work Management’. My point has always been, if Iam doing all that has been mentioned above, am I demonstrating any passion? If so, what passion do I have for my personal life?

I realized that in today’s world it is not ‘Passion’ it is ‘Caution’.

Don’t do this as the boss may not like it. Here, it is the only way to work. We are culturally very different. Don’t say this, don’t do this, don’t question, try to be sober, try to be in the boss’s good books, be careful of this person, he/she is well connected, don’t this and don’t that. Don’t, don’t and don’t. What a passionate life to lead?!! Wow, Iam thrilled!!

We are exercising only caution now and there is no time for passion. Even if there is it has to be passion with caution, what a joke!!

Scheming, planning and managing for that promotion. Sadly this is leading us to the non-existent world, which we all know is unreal but still believe that it exists, the world of success! I really do not know how to describe success, Excuse me!!!

It is painful to see so much suffering around, so many people whose self esteem is being hurt, so much compromise of self respect, so much drama and so much caution that leaves us with nothing but work on our minds all the time. In the bargain, health is lost, stress in every relationship is very high (in fact people are giving up on relationships and not the elusive world of success), there is no time to love yourself and others, No passion! The passion is dying or is it dead? I don’t know.

I would like to end by quoting what I think one of the soldiers had once said,

Iam the unwilling,
Led by the unqualified,
Doing the unnecessary,
For the ungrateful!

It‘s so full of passion. It is inspiring to think, to scratch the surface!

Iam willing to be the minority!!