Hello. I am Sameer. I am 20 years old. I am confused. Confused about what to do with my life. This confusion stems from the countless pieces of advice from mom, dad, relatives, friends, their relatives, and even the watchman sitting at my building gate who apart from the daily greeting ritual has never even interacted with me (that’s as unsolicited as it gets).

Isn’t it the most complex puzzle one has to solve? I wonder how everyone manages to get through this.



Today, I sit in front of my computer screen. Staring at it. I have entered the words ‘How to make the perfect career choice?’ in the google search bar.







As I am about to hit the enter key, I suddenly hear a voice from within myself,

“Oh come on! You are not going to base your decision which will shape your future on the results google brings to you. I mean a certain complex algorithm and some programmed bots cannot take this call.” This was my brain talking.



“I agree with the brain, for a change” said another voice. It was my heart.



“What are you up to? This is about your career, about your future, about you! And it has to be you who makes this decision. Period!” the heart went on.



The brain cut in, “Yes, you have to make the decision yourself, but not just by following what your ‘gut’ says. You must apply logic, analyze the pros versus the cons of the various career choices, study the practicality and viability, the probability of success versus failure and only then take the final call.”



“You mean he should give up on his childhood dream? His passion? Just because there are too many people who share the same passion? You mean he should be afraid of the intense competition existing in the career he always wanted to take up and just let go? When you were little and you felt like grabbing a soda drink. Coca-Cola had always been your favorite one. There were other alternatives which were available in your locality but to get a bottle of Coca-Cola you would have to walk for ten minutes longer to buy it. Would you not walk for those ten minutes and get your favorite drink? You would! In fact you would enjoy it all the more, because you didn’t take the easy way out but strived to get what you actually wanted.” the heart gave the brain something to think about with this one.



The brain promptly replied saying, “No dear heart! I do not want him to give up on his passion. I am not asking him to take the easy way out either. But then, I don’t even want him to have a tough time feeding himself and his children if he blindly takes the ‘leap of faith’ as you call it. Both of us are aware of how deeply saturated the industry is with countless people aspiring to be an actor. Isn’t it very probable that he goes unnoticed or unappreciated? This isn’t about buying a soft drink right? Wouldn’t you be hurt then? Of course you would. You are an emotional fool!” the brain had a point. A very valid point here.

“Yes I would be hurt but I don’t think he should restrain himself from giving it a try. After all, there is no certainty that if he gets into his family business or a 9-5 job, he will do well. We cannot overlook the layoffs, downsizing, recession. He might as well struggle to achieve what he wants right? At least the struggle will take him closer to his destination if he follows the route of passion” the heart confidently rebutted.



Point after point, they went on. Trying their best to convince me, persuade me to do what they felt should be done. It is said that “Your heart knows what you really want” but it is also true that “your brain tries to think logically and rationally, and come up with a decision for the confusion, based on several external and internal factors.”

This conversation had not led to any decision as there was an absence of harmony between my heart and my brain. Every time I decided to go ahead with my brain, my heart would pop up something convincing enough not to do so and vice versa.



As I was still looking to reach to a conclusion as to whether or not it would be worth taking the risk, a third voice from within, that of my soul, prompted me to ‘harmoniously blend’ the advice given by my heart and mind. This voice stressed that everything in life cannot be black or white, left or right, yes or no, this or that.



I decided to find a mid-way which would not be as uncomforting to the brain, owing to the reduced amount of risk involved, at the same time it would not disturb the heart as much by having to absolutely give up what I wanted to do.

Which voice would you go with?

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