Pride and Passion

Human life revolves around harmonizing Pride with Passion. Pride starts to fade and passion takes precedence as we grow older. Everyone knows there is distinct difference between the two, then why there is need for harmony. Why we didn’t attempt to synchronize it at the very beginning. Why very few succeeded at the same. Why we always speak about passion but rarely about pride.

It evolves from basic human nature for independence, recognition and acceptance. We are born and raised in social setup and try to be part of same. Irrespective of whether an introvert/extrovert, we want acceptance from our peers, family, friends, relatives, etc. The means of achieving this defines whether a symphony exist between our Pride and Passion.

The most important factor which defines whether you can harmonize Pride and Passion is talent. If your talent exist in the area of passion, there is synchronization between Pride and Passion. However this wouldn’t be true for majority because of societal norms and disconnect between ambitions and reality. For e.g., in a cricket frenzy nation, every child had passion for cricket and would have dreamt to be a cricketer. Very few even attempted to make career out of it for either the lack of talent or support. Many would have felt bad to leave their passion however would have realized later in life that it was a wise decision.

Pride is important for human being for simple reason that nothing tastes sweeter than success. Any success big or small gives you the confidence and lays path for bigger things in future. It becomes irrelevant whether it’s in field of passion or not. For e.g., I was school topper in mathematics in 10^th Standard and was rewarded with ₹ 500/- in annual event. I never expected to be part of event as I hadn’t score full marks and overall was just an above average student. The Pride in seeing all your teacher’s expression when they least expect you to be there is priceless even if mathematics was not my passion.

Passion is important to explore your inner self.  It can led you to unexplored terrains in a completely nonchalant manner.  It’s like that wonderful dream sequence which you aspire to make it real at some stage in life. It’s not restricted by any tangible or intangible boundaries and invokes the real ecstasy in you.

Pride is more extrinsic in nature compared to Passion. Pride is often undervalued for the simple reason that it’s an end of journey. It’s human nature to give importance to things which we aspire to rather than things which are accomplished. Pride is permanent in nature and no one take it away from you. Your achievements are forever and even death can’t it take away.  Passion gives you the reason to look forward in life and make your dream turn into reality. It takes precedence once you are content with Pride and look forward to explore inner self. However, Passion without Pride is equivalent to vehicle without wheels, no matter how good the vehicle is it can’t lead you anywhere.

As a great philosopher once said,

Work towards the Pride and it would provide you the means to walk on the path of Passion. 

Heart and Mind

The Battle between Mind and Heart is the longest battle ever faced in history of mankind. Unlike other battles there is no clear winner always. The good part is there is no threat of human extinction even after numerous battle happening every day unlike other wars.

Its presumed Mind is Logical and Heart is Emotional. From the time we had basic maturity levels, it was taught to take decision from Mind. The theory is imbibed such as these decisions are more mature and would drive towards a positive future. The same psychology drives majority of decision for individual at all ages. It’s not that the Heart for these individuals can’t sense wonderful things around just that it’s in a restricted environment and has got little freedom to express.

Heart is like a lion in a circus. There is enormous potential and skills visible for everyone; however it’s guided by the ringmaster and has little freedom on its own. The Mind can feel their existence and quality but would tend to ignore the same. Father’s Heart can sense son’s passion for music however Mind and accordingly action are driven towards him becoming an Engineer. Mother can see daughter’s artistic skills however the Mind drives efforts towards she becoming a Doctor. A teenager can sense his interest level’s for sports however his focus would be towards joining an IIT or Ivy University abroad to fulfil his parents wish.

It’s not like Mind has easier job on his hands. As Ben Parker said in Spider-man, “With Great Power comes Great responsibility” and same is true for Mind. Many times, the decisions are driven by burdens of responsibility carried on its shoulders. “The mind is everything. What you think you become” (Buddha).  It has vast amount of knowledge and unlimited potential to grow. The amount of avenues it can open up are humongous and it complicates matter as life gives us limited time. There is always a fear of failure attached to choose the wrong avenue and unlike Heart, Mind doesn’t have an option of failure. That might be the reason it attracts all attention and we ignore the Heart.

I always wonder why the Heart is so underrated. Think of memorable instances from your past and try to link it to your Mind and Heart. I am sure majority of those incidences would be closer to your heart. Heart has a long term memory than Mind which might sound paradox even if true in real life. Favourite songs, movies, sports, memorable moments in your life; think of any of these things and try to link it with your Heart and Mind. I am sure more than 90% of incidences would be linked to your Heart.

After seeing both sides of coin, I wondered why it’s difficult to take decisions from Heart. I can think of personal story around it. I recently bought Monopoly Board Game: Game of Thrones Collector’s Edition. It costed me 7-8 times the price of normal game. When I shared it with few friends, I got extreme reactions. Some loved the game, appreciated and some felt it as an extremely stupid and maddening decision to spend such a high amount on simple board game. In fairness, everyone was right in their own place however as a recipient the responses were extreme for me.  I momentarily felt ecstatic by positive and disheartened by negative views. However, in introspection my heart felt at the right place post seeing the product. As Hellen Keller said, “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart”.

Heart is like a tire in a vehicle, a component which attracts least attention and you don’t feel its importance unless it’s busted. You have to pump it from time to time for a smooth and enjoyable ride. There is need for an absolute synergy between Heart and Mind for freedom to explore all avenues without fear of failure. It’s like the Pleasure (Mind) and Happiness (Heart) and we tend to ignore one. We need both to live a successful and meaningful life. It’s like the music without which a song can’t touch your soul.

Think of it, Invention of Infinity wouldn’t have been possible without Heart as Mind follows finite process defined by nature.

Feel height beyond the stars
Feel light beyond end of darkness
Feel love beyond hate of mankind
Feel nature beyond realms of universe
Feel God beyond concepts of mythology
Feel Heart beyond imagination of Mind

As George Michael said, “You'll never find peace of Mind until you listen to your Heart.”