Let Yourself Be Silently Drawn By The Strange Pull Of What You Really Love

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“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.” – Rumi

Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī or otherwise known as Rumi (1207 – 1273) was a Persian poet, Sufi mystic, and theologian in the 13th century. His spiritual works transcend both time and national borders because of their timeless relevance and translations in several languages. He is the United States’ bestselling and most popular poet.

Biographer Brad Gooch described Rumi as “a poet of joy and of love,” an observation not merely derived from his works but also from his life. Records claim that his creative outbursts that produced 70,000 memorable poems were a product of his grief from losing his friend, Sham. It was said that the death of his friend urged him to live a life of passion, which was what his friend also taught him.

In this quote, Rumi was speaking about following the urges of the heart and trusting that it will work out eventually. Although several observations and opinions have called this “irrational”, several findings have seen the benefits of doing one’s passion. In an ongoing research, the researchers found that people who chose a specific task based on extrinsic reward, end up regretting their decision. Contrarily, the people who went after intrinsic rewards work harder and are happier than those who went after a bigger salary but less rewarding task.

To quote Kahlil Gibran: “Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.”