You are sent here for a purpose. You need to find it. You need to live it, pursue it and dedicate your whole life to it. For some it is cakewalk while other spend major part of it trying to figure it out, leave rest of living it. Often when a person is confused and has to choose one among many fancy things kept in front of him, he either loves many of them or nothing of them. The one who likes nothing just picks up one and decides to just go with it. The real travesty is for that poor human who loves too many things because if the things he chooses ends up failing him, he’s left wondering if his choice was wrong.
A very similar thing happens with a guy who is so-called All-Rounder. Let’s take this in form of a story.
There is this kid called Jack. From the very childhood Jack was interested in academics and extra-curricular as well. Changing company of friends and neighbors taught him not only one, but multiple sports. He was always a bright child in academics as well. One day, his music teacher found that he can play keyboard better and learn faster than most kids of his age.
His class teacher found that he has a really strong sense of understanding and speaking fluent English. Jack loved to anchor as well. Debate competitions, Declamations, essay-writing, poetry was also a part of his many interests. He was in the school team of multiple sports and his understanding of different perceptions made him a good leader as well. He held student posts and was a favorite among many teachers of the school.
Jack looks to be living life of an ideal kid, right? But there’s a glitch. He was good at so many things that at the end of the day, he was best in none. He scored good marks but was never an exceptional scholar or topper. He used to play so many sports but there was not a single Sport in which he was the star of the team or the vital player of the squad. The team could do fine without him as well. In orchestra, he always compromised to an average instrument because there were kids who played a lot better than him. He went to a lot of competitions and tournaments but hardly won any. The rack of participation was full but the one of achievements was a lot thinner. All this while, Jack was too proud of himself that he has his stamp on so many different areas. And he failed to realize the one thing that mattered more than being the ‘Jack’ of all trades – that he was king of none.
That was when all the boats he had his legs into started sinking one by one and in the end there was nothing to rescue him from drowning into the pool of diversity he created for himself over the years. That self confidence turned into self-hatred and the world kept screaming at him to follow his heart. He wanted to live the life that greats like Rabindranath Tagore, Leonardo Da Vinci had lived, being pioneers of not one but many fields. He idolized Elon Musk for his contributions and groundbreaking work in entirely different areas of study. He too wanted to conquer them all. But he forgot to see the reality in the darkness of his shiny dreams – that he was just another average.
All those efforts of years and years, all that energy was enough to make his and others’ world shine. But that was shared between so many worlds that in the end all was lost in darkness. He gave a drop to each thirsty plant and in the end, they all died. Aftermath is that even if he decides to choose a door, his love for the other ones will come rushing back on the pain of the first thorn he feels. Time would heal and the ‘what-if’ gaps is what would be left to escape.
