Do what you love to do and give it your very best. Whether it’s business or baseball, or the theater, or any field. If you don’t love what you’re doing and you can’t give it your best, get out of it. Life is too short. You’ll be an old man before you know it.~ Al Lopez
We now have a pretty good idea of what we’re good at and what we desire. Our old self images have been pushed to the side to make room for the new expression of ourselves. So, where does contentment fit in to this pile of new personal information?
We must do what we love. Life used to be about finding a job… a career. Doug and I fell for that trap. We started out working as artists. Common opinion was there was no money to be made as an artist, so we went to college. We went back to the arts… We went back to college. Finally, I “grew up” and got a “real” job working as a cog in a municipal machine…( and for anyone interested, here’s my LinkedIn profile, created just for this blog).
I hated it, and after six years of drudgery, I was injured on the job. “Now what?” is what the me of a few months ago kept asking myself. The answer turned out to be, “whatever I want”!
This is the reason I looked inward to find out exactly what I want to do with the rest of my life. I’m not done writing and posting the find your path in life series, but I know how it ends up, at least for me. (Follow along to the end if you’re curious).
How? HOW? HOW? That’s what I keep hearing. The answer is different for everyone. Common components are clarifying who you are now and what you want, having a goal based on your new knowledge and putting in the work to reach it. That’s what I’m doing, and I hope I’m encouraging a few of you to do it as well.
Taking a job where you can’t express your talents and interests will kill your soul… I tried it. Now, I’m back to creating… This blog is part of my efforts. I also create three dimensional art and do various other things for income.
The point is, settling for what’s offered is a sure path to unhappiness. To be content, you have to know yourself, know what you want,
Doug and The Great Catsby!
know how to get it and put in a lot of effort. Isn’t it worth it, to create the life you desire? Settling is easier at first… It starts to chafe almost immediately though.
Figure out what you love and do it. Make it into a career. Don’t waste your life doing work that doesn’t nourish you. I won’t pretend that I’m all the way there yet, but I work towards my goal every day. What about you?
Doug thinks hanging out in the sun with The Great Catsby should be all that’s required of him, since he loves doing it… I’m going to stop feeding that lazy monkey if he doesn’t get back to helping me with the blog…
Doug Does Life 
I think I need to catch up on this blog…really interesting! I’m really glad you popped over there, I would have never found it otherwise….and it seems like we may be wandering through the same set of paths…
Thanks for the compliment! I’ve been enjoying seeing your work as you post it… I’m trying to get the monkey (Doug) out there. I’m all about helping out others do the same with their efforts too.
I think I called you Doug in a post, sorry about that! :p I’ll check in as often as I can, reaffirming is always a good thing…
That’s ok. The way I write, most people think I’m Doug… I blur the lines on who’s who for fun.
I totally agree with what you are saying here. I was recently retrenched from my job, and have decided it is an opportunity to start looking at other ways to make an income, and try and align that with my passions. Starting my blog was a first step toward my goals.
Good for you Penny. I’m new at blogging myself, having started this on on September 3rd, 2013. My first month was very slow, visitor and comment wise… Don’t get discouraged at the beginning. Good luck!
Thank you very much for your encouragement John. I am just learning my way around WordPress, so hope to expand much more on my page. Love your concept on your blog!
Reblogged this on coach.
Thanks for writing this! We started doing our private practice full-time just a couple months ago, and now, I am writing and drawing a comic as well. It’s scary, but it’s worth doing what you love.
Thanks for stopping by! Good luck with your comic… I’ll check it out.
Do what you love to do and give it your very best. Whether it’s business or baseball, or the theater, or any field. If you don’t love what you’re doing and you can’t give it your best, get out of it. Life is too short. You’ll be an old man before you know it.~
so agreed how kewl…………from one disabled camper to another :).. namaste’ .. q
To you as well!