Doreen died when she was 25 years old. She had just received her university degree and had been enjoying her new job for three months when she passed away in a tragic motorcycle accident. Everybody in her entourage kept saying how she had died very young, that there was just too much she still had to accomplish in life. Joseph on the other hand, 55, has worked for thirty years of his life as an operations manager in a bank. Before he lost the rather well paid job five years ago, he and his family used to be very proud of. Now, he is constantly haunted by the idea that his life is over because he thinks he is no longer useful to his wife and four kids, at least financially. A recent census on the Curve of Happiness, shows that people are overwhelmed by the urge to overachieve between the age of 20 to 39, while they are overwhelmed by regrets of what they didn’t achieve or can’t achieve anymore between the ages of 40 to 55. The study also shows that the sense of failure gets even worse as one advances over in the sixties and above. Tom Rauch, expert in the field of Happiness studies, explained that this was due to the fact people attach one’s worth to their work and school achievements while ignoring other things in which they excel. “People will be sad when you die young because they believe you still have a chance to achieve more and they are more accepting when you die old because they believe you’ve exhausted your chances in life,” he said. He noted that whether willingly or not, people value the work of their hands, humor and intelligence which is what many people remember about each other when they die. He continued, “the question then remains, how does one get fulfillment in their career, at least for themselves, if not for others, to look back to, whether at a young or old age?” Steve Jobs, CEO and co-founder of Apple and Pixar, in his famous commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005, said to those who were present to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in life’s setbacks, including death itself. After sharing how he dropped out of college, founded Apple, got fired from his own company, founded a couple other companies and met his wife, he said, “I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers” “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle,” he emphasized. One quote from his speech went like, “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” He goes on to call people to follow their intuition and guts, to not be trapped by Dogma, which is the result of living other people’s thoughts and in his legendary saying he concluded by telling them to ‘stay hungry, stay foolish’. Dr Rauch also noted that once one makes it their mission to choose a career that is best for them before anyone else, they will surely be much happier when they look back, regardless of their age.
