In a Bengali household children are usually introduced to books, music and football from a very young age. I was no exception. I grew up reading, sketching, learning music and of course, watching football. These were pretty much activities that kept me busy during my summer holidays and I loved them all. It’s like you are never alone when you are involved in those activities. I was an avid reader, but I was extremely passionate about music and painting.
However, 13 to 30 makes a lot of difference in your life.
I constantly struggled between priorities and passion. Sometimes it was about asking– Can passion be a priority? On the verge of turning 40, I had reached a stage of my life where priorities became my passion.
And then Lockdown.
While it was lockdown for the entire country, it was already doing wonders for me; it was helping me unlock my mind.
The initial weeks were a nightmare. My daily schedule looked hectic; there was no breathing space, long working hours, slogging with office work during weekends and a 7 year old to take care of. Plenty was happening and there was no control, until one Saturday afternoon, my little one pulled me to paint.
What started in an A4 sheet was quickly replaced by walls in the living room. To add to it, she said she wanted to learn music too. There was no stopping after that, painting, music and even reading jumped back to my frame. I started to rediscover my passion.
Saturday and Sunday went by; I was tired but smiling and happy. I felt I was 13 again and that Sunday evening I made a conscious decision. It was time to make passion my priority and not the other way around.
My commitment to my priorities has been unaltered since long but I learnt that I can be committed to my passion too. It is not difficult, I followed 3 simple steps:
- Find one thing that helps ‘being you’
- Plan for the week but plan for my weekend too
- Focus on quality of time and not the quantity of time
I was able to relive and fall in love with things that I have always been passionate about.
Have you ever lost touch with things you have been most passionate about? How did you rediscover your passion? What did you do to make passion your priority again?
Author : Sumitra Paul Chatterjee
Associate Director
I Train Consultants India Pvt. Ltd.
