Love what you do. Or, was it do what you love?

It was the month of April and year 2017. Three races done in the new calendar year of F1. Vettel, and Ferrari, had made a great start to the season. Something they haven’t had the fortune in the last few years. Vettel was being interviewed and, I distinctly remember his words for they made a mark on me at that moment, he said “I love what I do.”

Somehow, that stuck with me a tad longer than it should have. Maybe it had to do with the situation I was in. I was apprehensive about my future, my choices, and the path I was set upon. And of course one of the relevant concerns was “Am I not ambitious enough? Have I lost focus or the will to strive for success?”

Most of us still work solely to get the money to pay the rent, to clear the dues and to settle the bills. And what we truly love to do remains in the backseat of this ride of our professional side of life. More and more people try to keep that love alive by indulging in it as a hobby. But the truth is that most of us have moved on from that love. Maybe they knew something that I didn’t? Maybe moving on is the way? Maybe pursuing what you truly love is just another fairy tale that you were fed as a kid?

I soon found the answer. It was definitely not how any of us could have imagined. I came across a name. Billy Monger. Along with the name, came some more words. The news informed about an accident. The result of which was that he had lost his legs. Amputated. He was an up and coming talent in the racing world. “Not anymore”, I thought. And the news agreed.

This is something I have had thought of. Discussed with friends. Mere hypothetical imaginations leading to a mere idea of the possibility of being handicapped. In my opinion, the only people who could justify their decision to commit suicide were the ones who lost of one of their senses or limbs. I can’t imagine being able to live with that massive handicap through the life, whatever the remainder of it I would have.

So I was surprised, and pleasantly so, to see that kid smiling in the pits of Silverstone. I’d have probably given up all the hope. He hadn’t. I decided to look him up. What I found next was something that truly stumped me. He was going to race again. It was an initiative by some benefactors. Not an idea he had. He was going to get prosthetic limbs. Now this is not something that is out of reach for an idea or that it isn’t practical or a breakthrough in technology. But what struck to me was how something that was unattainable to Billy was brought to him. A hint of destiny pulling strings?

This was the answer for my questions. Ambition. Ambition so strong that you are ready to put your life to line. Even if that ambition renders you useless. Whether it kills or stops just short of it. Striving to attain what you want. That’s how you are meant to live. Fighting and striving till you can, you should. That’s the price you pay for getting a chance to do what you love.

Or else, learn to love what you do. But, is that a way of living?