Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Live many lives

I have a young friend who did his IIT and MS and made his pile in US by starting an IT company. After about two decades when he had earned enough, he quit and took to reading astronomy. He acquired a doctorate in his early forties and is now in the academic line guiding students. It is not just a change in profession as many do in their career from one company to another. It is a conscious decision to live a new and totally different life.

There are many who do that if they are in a position to do so. I have read in a book by Kopmeyer that Dr Schweitzer lived four different lives As a Doctor of Philosophy, he authored many books. He later earned a Doctorate in Theology to become a curate in a church to lead a different life. Not content with this experience in life also, he pursued his interest in music and became a renowned concert organist. The urge to serve the poor and depressed goaded him to become a physician and surgeon. He served the sick in the hostile jungles of tropical Africa by building a hospital.

We all live life only once and rarely change our vocation. We spend our life doing nothing to distinguish ourselves with success. It is good to change our life bringing greatest good to the largest number by not confining ourselves to one humdrum life without any benefit to others. It is conceded that not all can afford to do this in these difficult times.

This should not preclude those who are successful in life in the early stages from seeking a new life. I have known many, after their long career, take to study of law, learn Homeopathy or other branches of medicine, start affordable schools, do research in their religion, and join social service organizations/NGOs giving their heart and soul into their new lives. We have the option to lead more than one life that can bring joy and happiness not only to us but to other needy people. One need not lead a life of dreariness and mediocrity. We don’t have to be stuck with the present. Some preparation early in life will facilitate our leading more than one life.

5 comments:

  1. i fear i'm not so much in accord with you on this.. if you are happy with what you are doing now then why should you leave it??
    it's another matter if you want to be versatile, but its not necessary to lead more than one life just for the sake of it.. doing what you do neatly and with all your heart is the best way to serve the world..
    or if you want to serve people in a more direct way- i mean social service- you can lead parallel lives.. like almost all of us do.. we usually don't concentrate on only one thing though we may give some things in life more importance than others..

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  2. loved this post
    We are sometimes busy building up 'one' life and while running behind that we forget to live it.
    Its good to hear that there is always a new life that gives a new world itself!
    I was thinking now, In a way we are living a new life every day or every moment-not in the sense that we change our career.
    Don't you think that we shed the 'old' life and ware a 'new' life everytime?

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  3. If we are happy with are life and are fully satisfied with it, then changing our station doesnt make sense, but if life becomes drery and things become monotonous its better to go for a change, like while listening to radio program, we might not like a particular song after half way through it, so we always have the option to tune in onto a new one...tho in real life its not that simple, but what is...every enjoyable part of life become witha lot of difficulty:)

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  4. A very different thought actually!!.. yes its true that once we opt for a career.. at times whether we like it or not we just continue that way.. a very few tries out the other ways. i think everything depends on interest and talent.. if one has it for more than one field then one should take initiative to excel in them if time and situations allow.. I loved the subject.. thanks for sharing..

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  5. It is passionate to live many lives, the adventures and lessons that come along as part of the different lives enrich us in the end. However, I always feel that living many lives is a luxury that is bestowed on a blessed few, living just one life with bare minimums for most is a tough task.

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