Passion, Choice, and Exclusion

Which statement would you prefer being described by:

• “You are an expert.”, or
• “You are a jack of all trades, master of none.”

Or are these two statements mutually exclusive? Why can’t one be “a jack of all trades and master of all”?

Now try framing the answer to these questions:

• “What is your true calling in life?”
• “What is it that you are truly passionate about?”

Did you select one or a few choices while answering these two questions?

Or does your answer consist of a multitude of options?

If you are like most of the people I have come across, your answers would usually consist of one option. If your answers consist of even two options, you belong to a minor minority. J

What about the options we don’t choose? When we say that we are passionate about something, are we not saying that we are not passionate about the options we don’t choose?

Passion is an emotion. It comes from the heart. What emotion then do we feel when we are working on the things which are not our true calling in life?

Is the act of choosing only valuable when we reject the options we don’t choose? Is passion exhibited only then?

What if we were to instead live our life passionately? Would we not lead a more complete and fulfilling life?

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Sourav