how to choose a profession so that it brings joy

Years ago, when I first came to the US, I was taken to a restaurant called TGIF. I asked what this abbreviation means, and they answered me: “Thank God it’s Friday.”

You see, these people are constantly thinking about the weekend. If you suffer for a whole week and live for the weekend, then your life looks sad.

Why don’t you enjoy the whole week, but only the weekend? Yes, because many people choose a profession that is completely uninteresting to them. For them, it’s just a way to make a living.

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Sadhguru’s father: a model of dedication

My father was a doctor. He became one because his mother died of tuberculosis when he was four and a half years old. He told me touching stories about how he interacted with his mother. She kissed him, covering his face with a towel, as she was afraid to infect.

In those days, this disease was not treated much, so they simply built a house for her on a hill, hoping that fresh air would cure her of tuberculosis.

But she died very young – at the age of 21 or 22 years. It was a very wealthy family of merchants, where by the age of 12 children were already helping in the family business.

Before dying, however, my father’s mother told him: “You must become a doctor”. Perhaps she felt that if any other doctor had been by her side, he would have saved her life.

So my father became a doctor. He left his very rich family and got an education. The first thing he did was to work for three years in a tuberculosis sanatorium for a small salary.

He was completely dedicated to his work. His idea of ​​success was that you should only become a doctor and nothing else. And this is exactly what he expected from us, his children.

I didn’t want to disappoint him, but when I was 10 I told him: “There’s one thing I’m definitely not going to do.”

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Choosing a profession for social reasons

During my childhood and youth, my father always worried that I was not taught something specific.

When I refused to become a doctor, my father (after a long internal struggle) said: “Okay, then become an engineer”.

I didn’t want to be an engineer either, so my father exclaimed: “What will you do? You are not trained in anything.”

I answered: “If I am not trained in anything, then I can do whatever I want”.

I’m not saying this because I don’t respect doctors. My father was an excellent specialist, patients literally idolized him. I really appreciated his profession, because it was of great importance for people, and I saw it with my own eyes many times.

Although, I must admit, my mother constantly complained that my father was never at home, and that he ran away on a call to the patient at any time of the day. He could come home at 2 in the morning and at 4 in the morning, but what impressed me most about him was how devoted his father was to his work.

Is earnings the main criterion?

Such devotion to my profession made me very proud of my father.

But, at the same time, he was talking to me about how to make a living: “Become a doctor; make a living.”

I answered: “I don’t want to make a living like this”.

He spoke again: “Become an engineer; make a living”.

I objected again: “I don’t want to make a living like this”.

Then he suggested: “Well, then go into business and make money.”.

I said: “Not”.

Making a living has never bothered me.

I traveled the country on a motorcycle when I was very young. I lived alone in the jungle for weeks, and I survived there without any help. At that time, I myself did not know what I wanted and what I was looking for.

However, I understood that I would not sit at the desk in the office and earn a living – it was not at all mine. I knew only one thing – I’m here to live.

Every living being comes to our planet to live. Only much more often people think that they are here for some other purpose.

Are you looking for something more?

All other living beings (except humans) know that they just need to live. However, to live for them means to eat, sleep, multiply and die – and that’s it, their life cycle has been completed.

But if you are human, you can eat as much as you want, sleep as much as you want, and you can multiply as much as you want, and yet you do not consider your mission accomplished.

The life within you yearns for something completely different. If that “something else” doesn’t happen, you feel dissatisfied with life.

Modern weekend people – that is, those who live in anticipation of the weekend – are absolutely not satisfied with it. They need a break from work – this is normal.

However, it is also very important that you do not make a distinction between work and life, because work should be your life’s work.

Work is also life

If what you are doing is not your life, please change the situation. Most of you spend more time at work than with your family.

But why do you hate work and wait for the weekend?

Work is also life, this is one of its dimensions, like a family, like leisure, like a hobby. Of course, different people have different requirements for how, when and how often they rest. If you’re at home every weekend, your family might enjoy it. But in another family, for example, everything is completely different.

It is very important for every person to understand that from the moment we are born until the moment we leave, we live life and only life – and it manifests itself in everything we do.

This means that in order for your life to take place and be full, you need to do what gives you a sense of satisfaction, and not experience torment at the workplace and live in anticipation of another Friday evening.