Do what makes you happy
Recently I have found myself in a particularly dreary state - and not just because of this Adelaide winter weather!
Since arriving home from Canada, I've been on the hunt for a well-paid job that won't take me away from my writing. I started a Editing & Proofreading course, and I'm looking for work at the same time. A month ago, a very good friend of mine helped me get a job at a local fast food restaurant.
I have nothing against people who work in the fast food industry, but very quickly I became aware that that kind of work was not at all for me. I found myself wandering around at home, not sure of where to go next. Do I travel again? Do I save for a year and then go away? Do I remain in Adelaide, where there is very little opportunity?
Yesterday I watched a movie called 'About Time'. Those of you who have seen this wonderful movie know that the main actress works for a publishing house in London, which is one of my dream careers. But what I found most encouraging about the movie was the message.
'The truth is I now don't travel back at all, not even for the day, I just try to live every day as if I've deliberately come back to this one day, to enjoy it, as if it was the full final day of my extraordinary, ordinary life.'
This post is quite personal compared to most in my blog, but I feel compelled to share this message with you. I realized that I should not remain in a job - or a relationship, or a house, or a city even - where I am not living every day as if it were my final day. As if I were happy to get dressed for work. As if I were overjoyed to see my family at the end of the day. As if I could look back on my life and not regret a single moment.
I understand that we need to make sacrifices in our lives in order to support ourselves. But tell me: would you rather live a life you could look back on and say 'I wish I quit earlier and spent time with my family and was happier', or would you rather make a change right now, for better or worse, in order to be completely and utterly content?
I quit the fast food place yesterday. And though I am in debt and have no plans for my future (I have ambitions and dreams, yes, but not concrete plans), I woke up with a smile on my face, delighted by the freedom that my day would bring.
Do what makes you happy. We have little time on this earth, and we are not meant to live it with anything but a smile on our face and joy in our hearts.
Since arriving home from Canada, I've been on the hunt for a well-paid job that won't take me away from my writing. I started a Editing & Proofreading course, and I'm looking for work at the same time. A month ago, a very good friend of mine helped me get a job at a local fast food restaurant.
I have nothing against people who work in the fast food industry, but very quickly I became aware that that kind of work was not at all for me. I found myself wandering around at home, not sure of where to go next. Do I travel again? Do I save for a year and then go away? Do I remain in Adelaide, where there is very little opportunity?
Yesterday I watched a movie called 'About Time'. Those of you who have seen this wonderful movie know that the main actress works for a publishing house in London, which is one of my dream careers. But what I found most encouraging about the movie was the message.
'The truth is I now don't travel back at all, not even for the day, I just try to live every day as if I've deliberately come back to this one day, to enjoy it, as if it was the full final day of my extraordinary, ordinary life.'
This post is quite personal compared to most in my blog, but I feel compelled to share this message with you. I realized that I should not remain in a job - or a relationship, or a house, or a city even - where I am not living every day as if it were my final day. As if I were happy to get dressed for work. As if I were overjoyed to see my family at the end of the day. As if I could look back on my life and not regret a single moment.
I understand that we need to make sacrifices in our lives in order to support ourselves. But tell me: would you rather live a life you could look back on and say 'I wish I quit earlier and spent time with my family and was happier', or would you rather make a change right now, for better or worse, in order to be completely and utterly content?
I quit the fast food place yesterday. And though I am in debt and have no plans for my future (I have ambitions and dreams, yes, but not concrete plans), I woke up with a smile on my face, delighted by the freedom that my day would bring.
Do what makes you happy. We have little time on this earth, and we are not meant to live it with anything but a smile on our face and joy in our hearts.
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