Happiness
A lot of people aspire for jobs that will reel in the $$ so they can live a comfortable life with a cool car, cool house, cool everything. Living in a society where capitalism is the norm, its not surprising to want to be at the top of the food chain. From a young age we are drilled with the notion that we should aspire for great jobs and work hard to get it because those who don’t become the lower class and are consequently looked down upon.
From a selective high school, I’m surrounded by kids whose aspirations are limited to one thing only: becoming a doctor. Upon questioning these kids, they told me it was their parents’ wishes… AND THAT PISSES ME OFF! Upon FURTHER questioning, they told me that their parents want it because their family friends’ kids are doctors and being a doctor is impressive… AND THAT PISSES ME OFF TOO. I’ve had countless discussions with my friends and we agree that becoming a doctor because your parents want you to is the biggest mistake of your life. I’m using one particular person in mind when I write this, someone who will quite possibly get 99UAI and probably cry themselves to sleep if they dont. They have sacrificed their whole school life with constant tutoring, constant studying locked away in their room, sacrificing parties and the whole social aspect of their life. Will they look back at high school happy? No, because all they can remember is studying and studying and studying. These kids are convinced that they too want to be a doctor but its only because of life-long conditioning from parents that makes them think that way. Being a doctor is hard, hard work and you should only aspire to be it if you are truly, truly passionate about helping others and saving lives. Not because you want to impress people. It’s the road to disaster.
I’ve experienced something like it too. My dad wanted me to do Physics because he’s a gun at it and I wanted to do it to make him happy… biggest mistake of my life. I have never passed a Physics assessment, I hate it with all my heart and that will affect my HSC mark. I’m just glad that its only one subject that I felt pressured to do, not my entire future.
I wanted to do something that impresses people, something that will earn me respect and differentiate me from my friends. I want to get over 90UAI for the mere purpose of impressing average kids (that is, non-selective school kids, lol no discrimination intended). I used to want to have a job that earns me the big bucks but recently I had a realisation that all the money will account for nothing if I’m not happy. Will becoming a lawyer for the money make me happy? But becoming a refugee lawyer to help refugees settle in Australia will. My eldest sister is my inspiration because she has a degree in IT and had a good job at the Commonwealth Bank, but she wasn’t satisfied and took law part time so she could be a refugee lawyer. She quit her Commonwealth job and is currently following her heart, travelling the world for 7 months, seeing the world and helping rebuild villages. She’s smart in that she walked away from her dissatisfying job early in life. I want to do something that makes me happy. I have no idea what it is, but my aspiration is: happiness. If I’m happy when I’m older, then money, cars, clothes will not mean anything because I’m already happy. If happiness means settling for a job that doesn’t make that much but I enjoy it, then I pray to God that I have the inner strength and will to follow my heart. My family is not rich but I’m happy that my parents are home everyday, spending time with me.
I want to be happy… and you should aspire for the same thing.
