Dedication

The thesaurus says dedication is devotion, commitment, allegiance, loyalty and so on. What does it take for one to be dedicated, or devoted or committed? How does one know that one is dedicated? Will dedication be obvious and shows up? Can it be measured?

To be dedicated one needs to love it. That is the start, I think. Without love dedication has no meaning. Dedication also comes with satisfying benefits, without which it also has no meaning. So it works both ways. Beneficial to both parties, the dedicated person as well as the dedicated receiver; huh it’s getting a little confusing!

Whenever someone talks about dedication it is almost always referring to work. Seldom would one refer dedication to persons or personalities, like dedicated to parents, to children, to loved ones, to celebrities etc. Dedication to another person would make one reserve one’s own time and energy to the person, just like one’s reservation of time and energy to work.

Work can be a passion and can also be a bore. If it is a bore than it is time to change as something that is boring or unpleasant will create negative impact and ultimately cause stresses detrimental to an all round well being. Once this happens something will give. Either the quality of work deteriorates or health is affected. The negative process is usually slow, very slow, and the person experiencing it would not realize what’s happening until it is too late. If change of work is not possible then it is advisable for a change of attitude towards work. Look for alternative approach towards the work to make it pleasant. Self search and try to identify why work is a bore and then make the effort to turn the negativity around. Be aware of the negativity and the stresses caused by it. Address it early before it gets entrenched in inner feelings. Creative thinking is necessary for the turnaround.

Thinking back to the days gone by I have been passionate over several things. Most of all over my work and career. Although I did not excel in the science of chemistry when in school, it was my weakest subject, my career developed in the chemical industry and later in the oil and gas sector where chemical reactions rein control in the processes. I struggled somewhat to understand the chemical processes but my passion for the job surpasses all the setbacks and I managed quite well in the end, if I may say so. Devotion to my employers, to my career, my job was the underlying factor for progress in my career, inadequate understanding of chemical reactions not withstanding. I can surmise that it was devotion and the love for my job that withstood the tests in my career, and I made it, successfully too.

My other passion and devotion was towards immediate family, parents, grandparents, siblings and later my immediate family. They were the loves of my life. They are and have been my inspiration. I was responsible to them, for them and ever devoted to them. My parents and grandparents had been examples for me to follow and to whom forever committed and subservient. My immediate family on the other hand was forever my responsibility and I was equally devoted to them. My whole existence therefore centers on them.

My ultimate devotion is without doubt to my creator, the Almighty, the One and only, whose supreme authority can never be questioned, and whose position remained unscathed whatever my situation would be. My devotion towards Him will not add anything to His existence nor will my turning away from Him, may He forbids, remove any part of His existence. It is I who needs Him and can never be otherwise. Although my whole existence centers on my family it however depends on Him. I cannot progress without His blessings and without Him I am nothing. This devotion to Him is not equitable with the two earlier devotions above. This is the ultimate and the crucial one for me……….

MKI Ramblings Unlimited,
Petaling Jaya