This struck a cord with me, as I sit a desk working (sometimes) on menial projects that don't mean anything to me. "I'm an administrative assistant, but I want to be a missionary/humanitarian worker, writer, doula and artist."
Why do we so often end up doing what we do when we want to be doing something different? There are many reasons--and some of them are valid--but so often it's fear. Being afraid to step out in faith. Fear of failure. Fear of financial difficulties. Sometimes, though, we have things like student loans to pay back and we feel the necessity to enter our fields of passion debt-free.
Lately, Luke and I have been talking a lot about doing the things that we love, in spite of the fact that we aren't able to jump on a plane to South Africa in the next few months. We've realized that pursuing our passions is not just a good idea, it's pretty much a necessity to our happiness and contentment in our current phase of life. So instead of just coming home at the end of the day with stories from our boring jobs, we decided to start working toward the things that our hearts yearn for.
Luke loves to fly, but he hasn't been able to afford to sit in a cockpit since April. I have a passion for the babies and women . When we go to Africa, Luke and I both want to utilize these two passions, among others. So at the beginning of the month, Luke ordered a book to study to begin his training to be a flight instructor and I ordered Misconceptions, the first book required for my training to receive my postpartum doula certificate.
I can't tell you how these decisions have changed what our lives are like. Instead of sitting on the couch telling Luke about entering data a surprisingly fast rate, I tell him excitedly how I learned that prenatal amnio tests are dangerous because they often result in the leaking of amniotic fluid and potentially even miscarriages (not to mention they are often wrong, leading parents to think their child has Downs or some other birth defect unnecessarily). See? I love it. And pretty soon, Luke will get to start his training at the airport and get to fly again and it's going to change him, because he loves it.
So, I guess I am writing to encourage everyone that even if you can't go for your "but I want to be a _____" for good reasons right now, still pursue those things your heart loves. It will make you happier and as a result, a better person.
