How do we balance doing the things we love and making a living? This is the question many people have asked themselves when it comes to making big decisions in life. I have also struggled with this dilemma for a long time. It’s a tough question. Do we compromise our values in order to make a living or do we take a gamble and throw ourselves into something we love?
The solution to this dilemma is a subtle one. It’s neither but both at the same time. What do I mean by that? Perhaps the Japanese Zen buddhist Taigu Gensho has the best answer regarding this. In one of his talks, he mentioned the buddhist concept of altruism. As you might have already guessed, it’s simply about serving others and be of help to others.
The key here is to have serving others as our goal, our basis in whatever we do. When we focus on helping others and solving other people’s problems, we no longer focus on our own problems. The goal now becomes something bigger than ourselves. It is with this in mind, can we then bring about something that’s desired by others and ultimately gain support from others. This would eventually translate into success and wealth. This is also why people in business often talk about the importance of bringing value to others.
When we turn our attention to serving others and providing them value, we also stop worrying about our wants and desires, even if it’s only for a short period of time. The irony is that this may actually give us what we want eventually and make us happy. What goes around comes around.