Do It Just Because You Want To
To toil for its own sake is the ultimate reward.
You will change over the course of life, fighting it is hopeless.
What tickled your fancy yesterday, might not do the job today. That is fine. No matter what society tells you, no matter how hard they try to box you in. It is impossible for you to remain the person you are today for the rest of your life.
The older you get, the weaker your body will eventually become. You might have kids and that will come with its own changes. Some people you are close to will probably die. Crises will occur, whether they be recessions, pandemics or even wars. All of these will shape your outlook on life and what you value will change.
Therefore, it baffles me when people think it is too late to chase a passion or a new hobby. There is no right time to do anything. The only right time is when you feel like doing it. You may have had no interest in gardening in your 20s but now, in your 30s, you can’t stop watching videos on gardening on YouTube. Yet you keep putting it off because you think it is too late for you to learn gardening.
Nonconformists, change makers, revolutionaries. We all think of those terms, those people, to contain aggression and bravery. Rudeness even.
But they must not always do. They could just be you choosing to embrace your passions or interests at the time.
Think of the great figures who seemed to be good at everything. Stevie Wonder, Maya Angelou, those types of people. People who lived vibrant, colourful and consequential lives.
As much as talent played a part in their success, I like to think following their curiosities played a bigger part. No matter how talented you are, if you refuse to break out of your box for the sake of conformity, not drawing attention to yourself, or whatever lame excuse you tell yourself, no amount of natural talent will help you.
Action mixed with passion is what fuels change. Doing things that call unto you, things that you love for an intrinsic reason, a reason that doesn't depend on success or fortune, is a guaranteed way to make your life and that of others around you more vibrant and colourful.
When you start to do things for the simple sake of doing them, there will be nothing that you will feel you can’t do.
In the poem “Mowing”, Robert Frost writes “The fact is the sweetest dream that labor knows.” He dismisses “the gift of idle hours” or “easy gold” as being the purpose of labor (labour). To toil for its own sake is the ultimate reward.
You may find it hard to view your job in this sense but try to view other endeavours this way.
Whether it is the poems you write, the garden you tend to or the sweaters you knit. Seek to have things in your life that you do for the sake of it and nothing else.
I completely agree, follow your passions and obsessions because you want to! It’s weird how we do this as a child, but fall into the trap of talking ourselves out of it as an adult.
Some people are waiting for a compelling reason to do something. Usually, there isn't. You determine that it's important to you, then you do it. An important message, Harun. Thank you.