Another way to find out what your passion is.
If I was given 5 minutes warning before my death, what would I be thinking ? Or let me ask you this; the next 5 minutes are your last. You have 5 minutes and the lights go out. What would you be thinking ? Or would you think at all ? Would you do something ? Would I try to live or remember my greatest experiences. Would I love to talk to my loved ones. Would I just wait counting those 5 mins ?
I thought about a lot of things I wanted to do. At first it was talking to loved ones. Then it shifted to that person I wanted to thank. And sometimes pray to God. Or I even have had crazy ideas that I should just verify and wait it out if I am actually going to die. I thought of making phone calls, how many would I make. The connection lags, voicemails, low battery… 5 mins are way too precious to do that.
I was also afraid of talking to “some” people. I thought may be I will make the effort to go talk to them. Wow! that’s a great way to push yourself out of your comfort zone isn’t it ? I wish I had that kind of push every time I want to pitch an idea, negotiate a raise or do business deals.
If you keep asking this “5 mins before death” question too many times, you end up eliminating a lot of experiences. View of Yosemite valley, the carmel beach, listening to Pink Floyd, the best ice cream I have ever had & so many other things cross my mind.
Then I shifted focus to work. Would I want to write code ? Compile errors and time to turn ON the laptop;
I might die entering my password or trying to remember it!
May be sing a song ? But it would be somebody else’s song. I knew in such moments I usually end up remembering a Justin Bieber or Rebecca Black song.
Then after writing about it I realized it was writing for me. Nothing specific; random thoughts running in my head flowing their way to paper or e-paper.
This is a weird and gory way to figure out your passion. It kind of puts you into a do or die situation. The 5 minute exercise is a die for sure but at-least you could choose what to do in those 5 mins.
It would be interesting to know what the last word I write will be !