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Epic Moment #4
You’ve probably heard the quote “Do what you love and the money will follow”. It was created with good intentions but it’s not quite true. “Do what you love and fulfilment will follow” is more accurate but fulfilment is not going to put food on the table.
So we all share the same struggle — how to make a living off our passion and avoid getting trapped in a numbing existence of uninspiring, unremarkable work. It’s the ultimate challenge and I think that’s a good thing, if it were easy then achieving it wouldn’t be an epic moment.
Just to be clear, I don’t think the 9-5 is all bad. Sometimes it serves as a nice break from the anxiety that constantly pushing yourself can bring. But it’s a lifestyle that is often used as a hiding place from the responsibility of pursuing our true calling.
It’s not easy to settle for less when you know you’re capable of more. To be bored out of your mind waiting for the weekend to come. To say to yourself, “that’s life” and carry on.
With time, the comfort that a secure paycheck brings begins to wear away. As its role in inhibiting our development becomes more and more apparent, staying put becomes increasingly difficult. Some are lucky enough to hit a point where leaving becomes easier than staying and that’s when the adventure begins.
If you choose to accept the ultimate challenge then you’ll have to make sacrifices, you’ll fail often and you’ll miss the security of that guaranteed paycheck. Oh ya and everytime you go outside it will be cold and raining.
Yes, it’s a struggle but it’s a beautiful struggle.
One where you wake up excited, motivated and content knowing that you’re giving this life everything you have. One where you often stop and think, “Wait, this is seriously my job?!” You can barely tell the difference between work and play. And no matter how hard your day was, you go to sleep with the undying belief that there is a way and you will find it.
Until one day the rain suddenly stops and you walk outside on a beautiful sunny day. You open your mailbox to find your first paycheck doing the work that you love. In that moment you realize how crucial cold winters are. Without them you can’t fully appreciate the blissful summers.
Inspired by Amber Rae.
But still terrifying.