Monday 21 May 2012

On Comfort and Remote Empowerment...

Thinking about it, I have no idea what I want to do with my life. This is somewhat of a problem only because I have been socialised to believe that by the time I have become of working age I should be settled, have decided on a career plan and should be working diligently so that when the time comes I will be in a financial position to support whosoever was chosen by 'God' to be my wife/life mate.

Observe the words in bold above. Note the word enclosed in quotes. Done that? Good. Now, I won't be talking about that today, so lets move on.

When I graduated from high school in late '07 (yeah, I'm young, get over it!!), I was of the mind to get out in the world, gain some work experience, head to university after I figured out what I want with my life, and work towards my goals. It didn't exactly go that way. I was always a slacker, but somehow I became extremely lazy during the year after I left school.

*Skips over embarrassing period in life*

But anyway, I've realised now that my plans to become a grey, nondescript suit working in a grey nondescript building were.....well...grey. After changing the friends I keep and the people I talk to (those are two very different things by the way), I realised that a life of mediocrity doesnt suit my personality. This meant I now had to change my expected goals and produce a viable life plan geared towards maximizing my potential in whatever industry I choose to work.

We need to steer clear of this poverty of ambition, where people want to drive fancy cars and wear nice clothes and live in nice apartments but don't want to work hard to accomplish these things. Everyone should try to realize their full potential.

Barack Obama
A friend of mine quite recently wrote that in a 3rd world country, to be comfortable is synonymous with being rich (see it here!!-----> sylphe-sylphe). To that end, I have decided that whatever industry I decide to immerse myself in should have the potential to generate sufficient revenue for me to be...um... 'comfortable'. *smirk*.

Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness.

Napoleon Hill
In all this, however, I must strive to remember that whatever 'comfort' I generate should not be hoarded, but must be used to empower those who were not afforded the opportunities that I was given. This does not mean that I should lord it over those who don't have.

Remote Empowerment

Charity separates the rich from the poor; aid raises the needy and sets him on the same level with the rich.

Evita Peron
Remotely empowering someone needier than oneself does not mean giving that person 'freebies' or 'handouts'. It is investing in that person so as to give that person the opportunity to extract (realize) their potential and become more than they were. So instead of giving that youth on the corner a $1000 everytime he asks for some money to buy food, why not invest in his education so that he can get a job to provide for himself? That is remote empowerment.


Anyway, now I need to figure out what I want to do with my life. I'm thinking something concerning food....

-Kapil Dev
-Necrodevz