There are two kinds of people in the world: ‘Drivers’ and ‘Cruisers’.
Imagine life as a car ride to a goal. Drivers and Cruisers take a seat each and travel to pursue their goal. They’re both out to achieve, and seem to be on their way to traversing the path to success and prosperity. Given these commonalities, what makes them different?
As implied by the designation, one would expect the Driver to be manning the steering wheel in his vehicle. He takes absolute responsibility of the experience towards his destination and drives himself to the finish line. He has a vision and his excitement is apparent and palpable.
The Cruiser, on the other hand, casually takes the passenger’s seat. He’d rather be driven to wherever the journey takes him. He’s not entirely convinced of where he’s going, but he goes along anyway since everybody else is, too. The Cruiser cruises. He too wants to reach the end, but would rather be driven by others towards the general direction of the goal.
“I would rather die of burns in the flames of my passion than live a slow death in the comfort of conformity.”
– Michael T. Coe
In the long run, which of the two do you think will end up laying in bed, sated and content with how life turned out? Why do you suppose they’d feel differently even if they both reached the end of the road, and are well on their way to the next goal? Something tells me that the Driver is the one having a good night’s sleep; let’s crack it down.
Given the nature of the journey they choose, Cruisers are seen as laid back with relatively lesser drive in life. Sometimes, they borrow a goal because it’s the easier thing to do. Other times, when they decide a goal for themselves they find it hard to follow through and end up giving it up altogether and hitch-hike their way forward. On that journey, they may focus and find a way through, but experiencing a sense of fulfilment isn’t a guarantee for them simply because they lack the passion for what they’re investing their time and energies into. They are Cruisers because they just cruise by, with a general objective of achieving success only because they have to, not because they want to.
A lack of passion leads to a lack of fulfilment, which sets the Driver apart. No matter how treacherous or long the journey, the Driver sustains himself throughout because the chosen goal is valuable to him. He is passionate about it. Because of the kind of holistic investment a Driver puts in to the goal, he becomes alert and aware, in complete control of the situation and the evolving terrains en route. Such a committed absorption to the goal is what leads to fulfilment in the pursuit.
Cruiser’s haven’t found their calling yet. We’ve all been in that space when fear, laziness, self-doubt or simply not knowing what we’d love to do, coupled with a host of other reasons have deterred or delayed us on our quest to manifest. The battle to be waged is within, and many a times we don’t recognise it. But you can switch over from the Cruiser’s passenger seat and drive yourself to sweet victory if you’ve found your passion in life. List your dreams, sort out your priorities and find what drives you in life. It won’t matter if lucrative success takes long, you will experience it in its truest sense each day when you’re doing something you absolutely cherish and love.
Become a Driver, Make You Happen!
Originally published at medium.com