People pursue a certain activity because of the passion that they have for it. A singer pursuing his singing abilities, a business man expanding his business, a painter painting etc. The benefits that they derive out of the pursued activity like popularity, money, power etc. are by products of activity and not the objective in itself. Of course the by product in turn motivates these people to pursue their activity with more zeal.

Most people think that the reason that they pursue or do something is because of the by products and not activity in itself. If carefully thought, one will realize that the activity is the driving force and it is the important factor to be paid attention to and not the by products. This will explain the pursuit of painters like Van Gogh who kept on painting inspite of poor living conditions and ill health. Such people realized at an early stage that the activity is the purpose of their life and they keep pursuing it irrespective of whether the by products are obtained or not.

Something to ponder about.