What Drives You?

Identifying what drives you is all you need to build a fulfilled life. It's not going to make your life easier or give you instant fulfillment. But when you build your life on that knowledge, life becomes a fulfilling journey. You not only become better equipped to face life's challenges, you also begin to pick the challenges worth bothering about.

image: suzifit.com

What drives me is my desire to own my actions. On the surface, everyone has that desire too. The difference with me is that I will go to almost any length to keep that desire. It's the major reason I don't have a business partner. I value it more than making more money. I value it more than having (more) friends. 

You might ask why. The truth is that if you look deeply within yourself and look through all that has happened in your life, you will find that there is something about you that, even though you are ashamed to admit, you value more than every other thing (besides God). Every human has it. God put it in there. And it's called: drive. 

For some people it's money; they would jump over a cliff for an extra kobo. It doesn't matter whether they need the money or not, or whether they would spent it or not. They are like the Shylock (in Merchant of Venice) and Harpagon (in L'Avare) money is like family to them. Whether it's good or bad, I can't say but since they were created that way then what matters is how they put to work that drive. For some other people it's friendship; they love the company of people. They would do anything to be around people and make friends. They don't hold back anything from their friends. Still, for some other people it's education. They will give up getting married early, give up getting a job outside the university, give up friends and spend all the money they have on education. Their best pictures are the ones they took on graduation days. Their album is full of graduation pictures. Their favourite topic of discussion is the value of education.

Then there are the weird ones, like mine. But the truth is everyone has got one. And paying attention to your drive is the key to living a fulfilled life. It might not be a popular life or a normal life; it will be a life you are happy with deep down within you. You'll end up bothering about fewer things. I don't bother about making the most from a business venture because money doesn't drive me. When something is bothering me and I need someone to confide in, I don't go to my friends, I simply write about it on my blog. I'm not the sort of person who gets annoyed if a friend gets married, has a baby, buys a house, changes his job and buys a private jet without telling me. Friendship doesn't drive me. Just by paying attention to my drive I end up having less things to worry about. And I get to focus on the things that really matter to me. Things like writing whatever comes to my mind without passing it through someone else for editing or fearing what people will think of it, because writing it is simply what matters to me. And also doing things my own way regardless of what the popular wisdom says, because I care more about how I do whatever I do more than the results of whatever I do. I care more about the processes I take than the end. With me, the end doesn't justify the means. If I'm not comfortable doing a thing all the money in this world cannot make up for that discomfort. And the best part of my day is the time I spend just letting my mind drift without any disturbance. 

Knowing what drives me has made me lead a more creative and care-free life. It has enabled me to accept the real me, to live a life that is in consonance with that real me and to have no hidden worries/secrets.

What drives you?