Saturday, March 2, 2013

Why should I be only a dentist? Why should my profession define me?  It's my foremost passion, but why must it be the only thing I am? Why should I give up a hundred other things I can do and a hundred other things I can be because I have a particular degree?
           
                    There is no need for a person to be one dimensional. It's kind of an instinct nowadays. Who are you? I'm XYZ, a dentist. Whenever you introduce yourself, right after your name you tell them your profession! I think to a certain extent, it's a class issue! People do it to sometimes exert their superiority. Anyway, that is not my point right now.

               I'm on a break right now. I'm done with all my exams and I'm currently not even looking to work anywhere. So I've got a lot of time on my hand to think! I have so much respect for people who give their everything to their work. Day and night, six, sometimes even seven days a week. But where is your life then? I don't know, I might just end up like them and it's not anything to be ashamed of.

                          But I dread the day I work like that and be okay with it. I dread the day when I have an opportunity to do something I love or travel or something, but I say no because I have to work. I don't want to be just a dentist. I LOVE cooking, gardening, writing, travelling, photography. Reading is like breathing to me. Why should being a dentist mean more than all these other things? When I'm working, I put my everything into it. But I'm so much more. Being a dentist is just one part of what I am.

                      This is so unlike my opinions till some months back. But I think I'm right. Maybe not for everyone. But I think it'll work for me. I don't want a day when I pick up a book and start reading and say to myself that I've missed reading so much. Why should I miss it? I can do it all the time!

              I hope I can keep this up. It's not really easy when everyone around you is working. I recently told my friend about all this and I said ' I don't want to be just a dentist!' and she replied 'What else do you want to be?' in an exasperated tone! I really don't think God intended for us to be doctors or engineers or bankers or whatever. It's us who made that classification. It'll be so sad if I'm on my deathbed thinking about what all I could've done and what all I could've seen. Okay, that was a little dramatic. Sorry! :)

So anyway, I try not to look at others. Others are doing what is right for them and I have to do what is right for me. What is the worst that could happen? I'll probably earn less. But I'll be happy. That is what it is all about right? Happiness.