Academic Overachievers

So... I come from a family where everyone has multiple academic qualifications. Dad has three, my brother has three, bhabhi has two and doesn't seem to want to stop there and Mom is the one I'm proudest of.  Amma went back to study and got a BEd after almost 20 years of being a 'housewife' and went on to teach after that. And now,  I'm marrying into a family of doctors. And The Fiancé will be one too. Though not the medical kind.

And me? Much to the annoyance of many of those listed above, I'm happier working than pursuing academics. I'm happier dabbling in a lot of things than pursuing that "One Passion". And much happier reading, writing, giving gyan and just generally enjoying vast and varied interests.

I just don't have the kind of focus it takes to excel in academics. (I can see a lot of black clouds looming in the horizon now). I hasten to add to that. I am not trying to say I have no focus. Because I do. It's not that I'm satisfied with the mediocre. Because I'm not. But I think I'm just trying to say that I should have understood what I wanted out of life the day I took a music book to IIT coaching class instead of vice-versa.

I get to hear a lot of words thrown at me all the time. Scattered, confused, no direction, no focus, lazy, no sense of priority, no passion and all that sort of thing.

But of late, I have been forced to acknowledge what I am just not sure what I want to do with my life. Every time someone asks me the question, "What do you want to do?" I have given a different answer. Sometimes I say I want to do a PhD (just to see how they'll react), sometimes I say an MBA, sometimes I say I want to become a consultant, sometimes a trainer, sometimes (only half jokingly) a housewife and most of the time, I give the answer that can be most easily laughed away. I say I want to be rich.

But the real answer is, "I Don't Know"