When we are kids our brains are like sponges that absorb everything that we see, hear and experience. Since a young age, we begin to develop different interests that mold our mind. As a kid, you see a plethora of possibilities using earth as a playground and experimenting with it. But somewhere along the line we are told by society, and most times even by family that assisting to school, getting a job, and basically becoming another productive zombie is the norm.
I am not insinuating that following social constructs is bad but for the grand majority of people it is undoubtedly an utterly fatalist move.
Every year, more and more people are developing chronic depression, anxiety and low self-esteem among many other mental health issues that could be easily avoided. And while social media and comparing ourselves to others has a lot to do with it, we neglect the fact that we need a purpose in life to drive us.
I have witnessed men making double the money I make and being depressed. Dying hour by hour in their 9 to 5s.
We weren’t meant to pursue glory. We were meant to pursue our passions.
I learned, from an early age that curiosity doesn’t “kill the cats,” to the contrary, curiosity keeps your vital inner child very alive.
I am not suggesting, in the most remotely sense, that we need to quit our jobs and pursue our passions and dreams blindly. We all need to be responsible and have a job to pay our bills, otherwise you will be sleeping on the streets. What I am proposing is that we work on our dreams and passions outside of those hours for the right reason; that they make us happy.
When I moved to America, my first job was as a dishwasher, then as a line server, as a server, as a cook, as a Soldier etc. Then I found myself fixing gym equipment, delivering it and now I am the lead graphic designer at a great company. Through every single job, I lived within my limits and invested money and time on my passions instead of spending them on useless things.
Doing the things that I am passionate about outside my 9 to 5 keeps me happy and sane.
I love writing and lifting weights. I love songwriting and drawing. I love reading, spending time with family, and I make time for everything. And if I have time for everything I care about, so do you.
The best thing you can do is to be honest with yourself.
Sit down and make a true assessment of:
· All the time you waste on Facebook.
· All the time you waste on Instagram.
· How many hours you waste Netflix and chilling.
You will be surprised of how many hours a day you waste doing nothing. And complaining about how little time you have a day becomes irrelevant.
I don’t possess a Creative Writing degree, and I am currently writing my fourth book in a foreign language. I used my money wisely and bought myself books to study writing such as, “Writing your novel from start to finish,” “Self-Editing for Fiction Readers,” among a few a few others.
When I was fourteen, I got an interest in songwriting and playing guitar. I must thank my mother for buying me a cheap brown guitar (I love that guitar) and my grandmother for buying me chord books to practice daily, and a couple of good friends for taking the time to teach me more chords. (You can copy and paste this link: https://youtu.be/C37n1LOkSoQ in your search bar to listen a song I wrote for my mother.)
Those are just a couple of my passions. If in the future I develop a new interest, with all the resources we have all day, one being YouTube, I will sit down and search, “How to (blank).” And self-learn whatever that may be. When you truly want to learn about something you find the way.
You may believe that if you don’t have any inherited talents or “gifts,” you simply lack the ability to have passions. However, that’s one of the many beauties of the human race, we can develop new interests and find our passions even late in life. But why would you want to wait? Try anything that seems remotely interesting, and who knows, it can become the love of your life.
Like I said before, we must follow our passions for the right reasons and the only reason that matters are for the tingling sensation you get while performing it.
When I started writing this particular blog, I had a feeling of orgasmic proportions because I was genuinely excited of how my brain was portraying my swirling ideas on paper. Before this last iteration I scrapped three of them. If I don’t get that feeling that I just explained, I move on and start over.
When I write a new song, that same feeling comes bubbling from within.
I have never started anything I was passionate about with the idea that I would become wealthy. I do what I do because it makes me happy. But what makes me even more happy is people identifying themselves within my work and being an inspiration for others to pursue their passions, dreams, and goals.
I would hate that in the future, when I am on my deathbed, all these ideas for songs, books, and whatever else that sparked in my brain look at me in the eyes and tell me, “We came to you because you are the only one that could have given us life, and now we die with you forever.” I live without regrets, and I will die without them.
It is imperative that you understand that you will not be motivated to practice your passions all the time. I am not. Motivation and happiness are not feelings that will be bursting in your being 24/7, 365.
Motivation is like an initial explosion of inspiration detonating at sporadic times. And discipline is the force that keeps you going because you keep reminding yourself the “why” behind your actions.
Happiness is more than a state of mind, it is more complicated than a cliché quote. There are three crucial things that if you do daily, it will maintain you in a happy state of mind, and that is to practice your passions, be thankful every single day for what you have, and eat healthy.
Find something you love and care about. Do it for the orgasmic sensation it gives you and not for the thought that it may make you wealthy.
Once you change your passion for glory, your work becomes adapted for the masses instead of for yourself. You must create things that you love and care about and just hope the masses love it the way you do.
תגובות