Funny thing about the mind is that thoughts are constantly and randomly generated. Dr. Bruce Davis says we have 50,000-70,000 thoughts per day which equates between 35-48 thoughts per minute per person. We are probably having thoughts now about how many thoughts we have a day which well, you see where this is going. Most of our thoughts are filled with positive and negative observations particularly about life, purpose, our bosses' annoying habits. Some thoughts are possible business or career ideas that never amount to anything. Every once in a while though, we have a thought about how great it would be to do what we love and wish we could do it for a job. Of course, whenever we think about our passion as a career, the universe decides to throw a ton of bricks directly at our face in attempt to tell us that we should do it.
Folks, I experienced this ton of bricks and hit me pretty hard.
I'll never forget it. It hit me so hard I'm surprised it didn't knock me out cold (of course, I'm speaking figuratively so please don't be concerned.) Being a writer, you spend a lot of time in your head, asking questions while absorbing tons of information. Its almost mandatory you turn your brain off for a couple hours. Some of us turn to a nice cold one, others drink a glass a vino. For me, I like to walk somewhere and see what answers I find.
For months on end, I'd been debating with this internal struggle of pursuing writing full time. Though writing is a passion of mine and I've enjoyed some success with it, it wasn't the full-time salary job I was accustomed to. I was use to working at startups building and learning systematic approaches. Creating content is something I'm good at and love doing but after a couple entrepreneurial projects went the way of the dinosaur, I found myself burned out. Writing became my outlet in times of strength and times where I felt hopeless. It gave me a place to go that was comfortable let alone empowering. I was able to channel anything I wanted and leave it all there. The great thing about writing is that the more honest and vulnerable you are, the better your pieces come out.
So I went back and forth in my head, asking if my successes with writing were a sign from the universe that it was what I needed to pursue. Now most of us can attest to being oblivious when the universe throws signs our way and trust me I've done my fair share of not acknowledging what's right in front of me. I needed validation though. I needed to know if my passion for writing was the path I needed to travel down.
Wouldn't you know it when right in the middle of my internal battle, I happen to pass a building wall with these words painted on it.
"Aspire Not To Have More But To Be More."
And there was my answer. It stuck out like a sore thumb. The wall provided all I was looking for. All along I was chasing the money doing jobs I never wanted to do or be at in the first place. I was a round peg trying to fit in a square hole. But the wall made me realize I should aspire to be a great writer and do what mattered to me most. Work was about creating a career I loved doing that would bring in money. It was about waking up every day, helping people and spending the rest of my life looking forward to another day doing what I loved.
Our time is limited. Death is inevitable. Most of us will spend our lives working towards something we don't want to do. Some of us right now are sitting at a desk and been looking for a way out of a job we don't want to be at. Some of us have a deep passion for something that we are afraid to make into a career because we are afraid of the unknown.
Life is one big unknown. Signs like the one I saw on the building that night are reminders that when a ton of bricks hits you square in the face, pick them up and starting building your new career.