Follow Your Passion

It's true, I've covered a wide assortment of topics over the years, however, this latest blog area has brought me back to basics.  And, I'm going to ask you a few whys. 
Why do we spend our precious few years here on earth toiling at a dead-end job in an arena that is not entirely of our choosing? 
Why do we not follow our passions more? 
Why do we have a thousand excuses for continuing to be a slave to mediocrity when our  brilliance is waiting on the periphery for us to recognize our true calling?  


OK, those are three whys - can you answer them?  Yes, you.  You know who you are, working in your cushy office, at a job that requires way too little of you, but, pays you really well for doing it.  Or, You, the person working at a low paying, little responsibility, no pressure, no pain, no pleasure job, just because it's permanent, in a time of uncertainty.  Oh, yes, you know who you are and you know the reasons you give to others about your reasons for not following your passion have less to do with the job security you now enjoy than it does with the uncertainty of being present  in your life and being responsible for every failure as well as every success.  Being responsible for the success would be great wouldn't it?  But, unless you risk failure, success is a hollow reward. Although most of us would fore go the failure for success.  Let me tell you a few things about why you should stop waiting for the stars to align or the right person to recognize your brilliance, or the lottery win that will keep you going while you work at something you're passionate about.
Recently, I have been working with a dynamic small business owner with a huge vision!  She brings out the best in me, as all people who follow their own vision do.  And, one can do the same for you too, if you will but let them.  I have found renewed passion in my line of work all because I've met someone who found they could do nothing else but follow the path to their passion.   
Now, I know how you feel.  You don't want to leave something secure for the insecurity of being on your own.  I know that feeling too and so does every other entrepreneurial business owner.  They have all had to make the decision, at one time or other in their life, to follow the rocky, narrow, twisting trail of entrepreneurship; or become employed and follow someone else's dream, now that they have smoothed the way. 
In the next few weeks, I'll be writing a series on the road less taken and I hope that once you've looked down the road, you can see a glimmer of the light of the passionate life that you were meant to live.
I won't minimize the hardship.   But, what I really want to focus on are the rewards, which are not always monetary, but are rewards nonetheless.
So, in between today and next Wednesday, I want you to think about the thing (and maybe there is more than one) that has never left your thoughts over the years, even though you haven't been feeding it, watering it, experimenting with it or loving it!  You know what I'm talking about - there's a designer, writer, engineer, inventor, humanitarian, philanthropist, prospector, environmentalist or politician  that has yet to be unleashed and allowed to flourish.
Until next week - the passionate life is lived to the fullest and the result of that passion lives on!