Unleashing your true potential
“I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works.” – Oscar Wilde
There comes a time in every one’s work life when they stop seeing the purpose behind their reports, their reconciliations and special projects. Mine dawned upon me when a dear friend came over to meet me one evening; seven years past college. I thank her to this very day for having awakened me from my slumber. The moments I spent with her, changed me for life.
Contrary to what Oscar Wilde has said, I had put all my efforts, my genius and my talent into my work; Just poured it out until nothing had remained inside of me. Not a drop to call my own… not a trickle to trace ‘me’ back to the work I did. We were one entity – my work and I and I was truly in love, in a manner of saying. 🙂
Life was all good until Sabbie came visiting, on a dull Monday evening; like a ghost from the past, she had brought back many memories of the days gone by. After a round of pleasantries and gushing about who was looking better among the two, we decided to sip some coffee and take a walk in the park close to home.
We exchanged stories of how life had changed and where we both were now. Life in flashback had been much simpler (not that we gave any credit to it then). We had both seen a lot, been through a lot, earned a lot and as life would have it, had lost a lot too. 🙂 Friends had grown apart, hearts were broken and mended, bosses were bossier now, promotions had come for the rescue of the ego and of course, the feeling of accomplishment had had us both agree upon having made it well for ourselves.
And then she had asked the question – “What happened to Us?” A question that wiped the smile off my face.
As students, we had both been crazy about Advertising. We would talk for hours about the kinds of ads on television, radio or print media. We’d pick a product and then challenge each other to come up with whackiest advertisement idea for it. Our dream was to work with the best in advertising industry, but we had landed jobs with entirely different organisations. She was working with an Insurance company and I was into Investment Banking. Those were the days. 🙂 We were now too far from it all. And we didn’t have much to say, except for feeling nostalgic and remorseful at the same time. We had let the evening wind itself up in silence.
A week later, I had received a mail from her that read, “Sweetie, I quit my job. I finally mustered up the courage to give up the life I’ve got accustomed to and start afresh. I’ve decided to get into advertising and will be taking a copy test tomorrow at this company a friend has referred me to. All I want to know now is this… Are you willing to do the same?! Love, Sabbie.
(P.S: Please say Yes!)
A rush of excitement had brought colour back into my face. I had clicked on the reply button and said – Yes! 🙂
That was it. That was the moment I had been waiting for my entire life. Sabbie and I had finally taken the plunge into a world that was completely new for us. We were excited and uninhibited by the thought of being a couple of nobodies.
That feeling had made me so alive – like I had finally found my true calling! Have you felt this way before? Have you had a moment where you Discovered Yourself?!
Author: Poonam Kulkarni
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