One thing being bed-ridden the past few weeks has helped me to realize:
You can’t fake your passion.
Sure, you can spend as much time as you want on pursuits you think you should be doing, or that other people tell you to do. But nothing, and I mean nothing, compares to what truly revs your engine, toots your horn, blows your whistle, or just gets your heart racing.
For me, it’s travel, music, dance, and learning about new cultures and languages. I could spend all day (and trust me, I have been) reading travel sites, researching new destinations, watching cultural dance videos on Youtube, and listening to Spanish music. I vary my time by working on some other projects that I think are useful, but I repeatedly find myself distracted by anything that aligns with my passions, as I’m sure can be said by anyone who has wasted their free time on the interwebz.
Maybe you can’t get paid to do whatever it is you’re passionate about. Or maybe you can get paid to do it, but it’s just not the salary you want/need. I get it. Student loans, mouths to feed, whatever it is – I get it. But you owe it to yourself to start incorporating your passion into your life by means other than just fantasizing about it. Get active! Do what you love. I don’t care how childish, bizarre, or silly you think it may seem to others. You’re the only person living your life, so ignore the haters and stop taking yourself so seriously 😉
Set some time aside every day, whether it’s 15 minutes or an hour, to focus on your passion.
It may surprise you just how much joy it will bring you.
You’ll likely feel happier, more driven, and more fulfilled on a daily basis. Heck, you might even find a way to turn your passion into a career.
It’s impossible to know how long or short this life will be.
So get out there and DO SOMETHING with yours.
(Just for the record, that is NOT my passion….anymore…)
