Fill’em Up

A wise man said that you should find a work as…

  • Something you enjoy doing
  • That you can make a living from
  • That you are passionate about
  • That you are fulfilled.

One of the professionals shared that with the students at a  career professional speed dating event hosted by HCOP (Health Career Opportunity Program), a program that introduces health careers to high school and college students. It gives a chance for students to explore health careers beyond nursing, and medicine. (I am product of the program) I was supposedly not only share about my career, but also trying to influence them to consider medical technology. I didn’t do that. I was more interested what they want to become but more importantly why they want to become.

Their answers have so full of passion that they had a light their eyes and a fire in their bellies. Their determination to get where they are going gave me a sense that the future of health care is in good hands. The beautiful thing about this was this event was only for college students between the ages of 18 to 28. It is never too late to start trying to find what you want to do in life.

I heard the wise man quote from one of the professionals there, and what is said is pretty true. The first two is a given, its something that you must be enjoy doing and you can make a living from. If its something that you don’t enjoy doing and you end up making you money, then you’ll going to have a bad time. Unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect utopia, so everything comes at a cost.You need to make something to barter for things you can’t make, a general rule of supply and demand.

The last two things are some things that people who are searching, or in a career that they are missing. I’ll explain passion and finding it in a different post, but for now I used passion is having strong emotional feeling about it, that you want to talk about it and share about it. You can be happy about something, but to have also passion, would mean that you want to share it, and basically do more about it. Take for example, a passion for cooking, could mean sharing recipes or developing recipes, while being happy cooking would mean enjoying doing it.

What got me the most of the wise man quote was the fact that the career has to have some type of fulfillment. Through my course of living, I haven’t heard an adult said that to me (that also could mean that I haven’t met a wise man). Fulfillment or a sense of sanctification is hard to come by, because a person has to determine what’s that particular point. Its like defining a limit, but we are told that there is no limit to our potential. I can’t help to think that a lot of us interpreted wrong, wanting more because we can go further, and not wanting to be satisfied. That’s one aspect of an lazy employee, to only produce only whats needed and not to do more than necessary. We waste time and effort if we spent time worrying or over preparing for something. Over abundance or over production is a waste.

Satisfaction in life is hard to define because the potential that there is to life is great. A CEO could be working at the top and live life not satisfied and unhappy. A Casanova could date many people, and because his or her satisfactions can’t find that significant other or happiness. This unhappiness that you may have it because your not satisfied in life. It may be because your level of satisfaction is way to high or you don’t know what it is there to satisfy you. It’s like eating at a buffet. You eat to get full and you hunger is sated but then you see that one dessert. Your too full, but because you can’t eat a single bite you are sad, and at the same time, you eat that, your body could be hurting or you had a chance to satisfy your self earlier and not later.

In any case, satisfaction can be difficult to determine what it is and when it is met unless we explore it. Meaning that we should try everything, but in small amounts, early, to see what we like. That way we can concentrate on it and be happy later on.

Do you know what satisfies you in life? If you don’t, what are you trying to do about it?

Post Script: In it’s on ironic sense of things, I feel this topic of satisfaction/fulfillment hasn’t be wrenched out more. I’ll write more at a later time.

Improvement Vs Perfection

“Strive for continuous improvement than perfection.” – Kim Collins

I remember I was playing a online game with a couple of friends, we got to a point that we had a good team going on to a point that one of my friends said “Perfect”. (Side note: The game was Overwatch) But despite having that “perfect” team, we wont a lot of games but not all of them. We told previously before that we couldn’t be perfect, so it begs to question then why should we even get better? I came across it is impossible to understand everything out there in the world, then why should we try.

It was the philosophy of a seminarian that I know, who said what was the reason behind it. For example of a pianist. A human pianist despite hitting the key the right note, in the right tone, and at the time time, may seem perfect, but if one person doesn’t like listening to the piano, doesn’t that mean it equate to a failure on the pianist. At the same time, the pianist may be dis-satisfied with the result, despite the average listening thinking of it perfect. It is a view of perspective (which I will discuss at a different time), but additional thing to think about is the reason why the pianist, or anyone is doing what they are doing. Maybe he is doing because he likes the idea that people enjoy the piano, to fall in love with the piano, so the pianist plays for the people. He will improve for the sake of the people.

Nara Temple Garden
“Fallen” Gardens at Nara Temple 2017

Taking the example of my self, I enjoy doing is photography. I know that every picture I take wouldn’t be considered as a master piece, and it be along while till I achieve success as a photographer. But I still do it because it gives me satisfaction and at the same time I would like people see the world through my lens. In another aspect, I know my self won’t be a perfect supervisor. Leadership bears a lot of problems, sacrifice, and hardship. But the reward of leading a group of people to success out ways all of that. I want to continuous improve my self as leader to continuous create success in other people. Striving for perfection seems futile, but striving for improvement, makes the purpose in our lives a bit more meaningful.

It goes back to why should we be doing a job, task, or responsibility? Does it contribute to our overall general goal? Will it improve me?