21. Reading Skills Comprehension: Kalam’s Concept Of Total Commitment

KALAM’S CONCEPT OF TOTAL COMMITMENT

Read the following passage carefully :                                                                   

“Total commitment is not just hard work, it. is total involvement. Building a rock wall is back-breaking work. There are some people who build rock walls all their lives. And when they die, there are miles of walls, mute testimonials to how hard those people had worked.”

He continued, “But there are other men who, while placing one rock on top of another, have a vision in their minds, a goal. It may be a terrace with roses climbing over the rock wall and chairs set out for lazy summer days. Or the rock wall may enclose an apple orchard or mark a boundary. When they finish, they have more than a wall. It is the goal that makes the difference. Do not make rocketry your profession, your livelihood — make it your religion, your mission.”

To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal. Individuals like myself are often called ‘workaholics.’ I question this term because that implies a pathological condition or an illness. If I do that which I desire more than anything else in the world and which makes me happy, such work can never be an aberration. Words from the Twenty-sixth Psalm come to mind while I work: “Examine me, 0 Lord, and prove me.”

Total commitment is a crucial quality for those who want to reach the very top of their profession. The desire to work at optimum capacity leaves hardly any room for anything else. I have had people with me who would scoff at the 40-hours-a-week job they were being paid for. I have known others who used to work 60, 80 and even 100 hours a week. They found their work exciting and rewarding. Total commitment is the common denominator among all successful men and women. Are you able to manage the stresses you encounter in your life? The difference between an energetic and confused person is the difference in the way their minds handle their experiences. Man needs his difficulties because they are necessary to enjoy success. All of us carry some sort of a super-intelligence within us. Let it be stimulated to enable us to examine our deepest thoughts, desires, and beliefs.

Once you have done this — charge yourself, as it were, with your commitment to your work — you also need good health and boundless energy. Climbing to the top demands strength, whether it is to the top of Mount Everest or to the top of your career. People are born with different energy reserves and the one who tires first and burns out easily will do well to reorganise his or her life at the earliest.

1. On the basis of your reading of the above passage, complete the following statements as briefly as possible :                   

(a) To succeed in one’s mission one must

 (b) The difference between an energetic and confused person is 

 (c) People can happily work 100 hours a week if they 

 (d) The one who tries and burns out first will 

 (e) APJ Abdul Kalam does not approve the term ‘workaholic’ because 

2 Fill in the blanks with appropriate words/phrases 

 (a) Total commitment is

(b) One’s profession should be one’s

(c) The super-intelligence if stimulated will enable us to examine our

3 Find words/phrases in the passage which mean the same as the following :                

 (a) related to disease (para 3)                                  

(b) deviation from normal / distortion (para 3)   

(c) very important (para 4)                                           

(d) to make more active (para 4)                               

Download the above Passage in PDF

More Comprehension Passages:-

CLICK BELOW

Passage -41 VIP (500 Words Subjective/Objective Solved)

Passage -42 ‘Ujjwala’ (450 Words Subjective/Objective Solved)

Passage -43 Fantasy Sport (450 Words Subjective/Objective Solved)

Passage -44 Hot Weather (450 Words Subjective/Objective Solved)

Passage -45 Child Marriage (500 Words Subjective/Objective Solved)

This child marriage essay focuses on child marriage in India including child marriage causes and child marriage effects. This child marriage article covers child marriage history and child marriage definition. Read this child marriage speech and gain knowledge.

Passage -46 Award (450 Words Subjective/Objective Solved)

Passage -47 Credit Card (550 Words Objective Solved)

Passage -48 House Sparrows (500 Words Subjective Solved)

Passage -49 Asian Game (450 Words Subjective Solved)

Passage -50 Ministry of Environment (450 Words Subjective/Objective Solved)

Need our help or have some question