Striving towards Excellence

-Karthik Gurumurthy

If I look back, I always chose a path different from the people around me. Right after high school, everybody around me went for medicine or engineering. I was interested in learning and pursuing a career involving Chemistry.  Most of the times, I try to choose a path which is mostly uncertain. Most of my friends and family always put their kids in the best public or private school. My wife and I chose to experiment our kid with homeschool. 

One thing I noticed over the years is every breakthrough is preceded by great uncertainty.  The only way to avoid uncertainty, to come close to guaranteed success in an endeavor,  is if you have done it before, or someone else has. At that point, why bother? You are no longer creating, you are replicating, checking off yet another largely inevitable outcome. It may be easier. It may carry less angst. But it will also matter far les to you and to those you seek to serve.

Life's greatest moments live in the space between desire and attainment. It's not the getting that makes life good, it is the seeking, even when that seeking demands not just action but surrender. The moment your object of desire becomes a foregone conclusion, the quest loses its potential to change you. Your life becomes a series of reruns and that gets old fast. 

Yes, I agree that Uncertainty may bring unease, but it also brings  a vital energy, the exhilaration of creation. Without uncertainty, there is no possibility. 

There is no perfect moment. No time when you will know enough to guarantee you wull get what you want. Still, at some point, imperfectly informed, with butterflies in your belly, you'll still need to act. Experience and emotion dance in that space. It is where possibility finds it wings. The greatest creations, the most legendary relationships, the most treasured and heralded experiences, innovations, and lives have all come from people who were willing to live and act in the face of uncertainty long enough for greatness to emerge.