I had he pleasure of having a wonderful dinner with my life long best friend Benjamin and his lovely lady Melanie (their son Jordan is my godson, my fondest hope is that someday he will come to read and enjoy some of my posts). As we chatted and caught up during dinner at Tofu, a charming Japanese restaurant with a twist, it dawned on me how much of our conscious thoughts are consumed with basic day to day survival.
How can we find time to discover our calling?
Between juggling one or more jobs, school, taking care of children, and the rare social outing with friends, there's never enough time (or energy) for pursuing our own interests. Your calling or greatest work could manifest from your hobbies, or by simply reading about something interesting. Without having the idle time for leisure, there's simply no way to uncover our love of something new. Even for topics we are already highly interested in, it is perceived as being selfish when we grab a few moments to read up on the latest trends in our favorite field.
Pushing off our dreams may work in the short term. But when put in perspective we see that our lives only achieve a local optima of happiness. We need to take a longer term view of our lives. Even a minor amount of selfishness over a year, or completely taking off from our regular work responsibilities for a few months can have a drastic impact on how much we can accomplish towards finding and developing our passion. Think about how much satisfaction you'll receive, and joy you can share from working on tasks that engage you fully.
There's no greater time than now to begin squeezing in some time to develop your interests and let them blossom into unimagined ventures. Whether it be:
- a new career in a field you never thought you could work in
- starting a business based on a hobby project or
- connecting with people on a profound artistic level
We have an obligation to ourselves, our loved ones, and everyone we touch to pursue a path that draws our best with each and every breath.