It’s Not ABout Me (You)
In the last week, I’ve heard three individuals I admire, look to as mentors, and consider to be friends attack the notion that we should be pursuing the passions in our life. Well, attack might be a little strong, but they definitely didn’t share the same opinions about the importance of passion in our lives.
And I hate to admit it, but it stung. It was hard to hear something I believe so strongly about being shot down by people I respect so much.
After listening to each podcast I spent more time than I care to admit thinking about how I would have responded if I was a part of the conversation. They weren’t completely wrong in some of what they said, but I felt they totally dismissed the role of passion because of how casual the advice of following your passion has become. I just wanted to hop into the conversation and share how the blanket advice of following your passion is right for some people, but not for others—but we all deserve to have our passions be a part of our lives.
I also wondered if maybe there was a hidden message from them to me—were they thinking of me when sharing their views on passion?
Eventually, I realized that the topic of passion in each of the conversations was unrelated to me, my mission, and how I believe passion plays an important role in the Pursuit of your authentic life. It may have felt a little personal, but I can almost guarantee that I was not on any of their minds—it wasn’t about me.
In the past, if I had heard these three individuals on the other side of my beliefs I would have questioned if passion really was that important and potentially pulled back from continuing to share my message.
Thankfully, that’s not the case today.
In fact, it only motivates me to make sure I’m clear in my message. I don’t want my message about the importance of passions in your life to be lost in the disingenuous advice that has caused people to scoff at encouraging others to find their passions in life.
There is no one-size-fits-all for how passion will manifest in your life—other than you deserve to have passions as a part of your life.
All of the following are true but not all will be true for YOU:
You should pursue your passions—they can be your guide on your Pursuit.
Your passion can develop in something you are good at but don’t feel a passion for initially.
Your passion can become your career.
Your passion doesn’t have to become your career—it’s okay to do something you don’t hate that provides for you and your family and affords you the opportunity to pursue passions outside of work.
Your passion might be something major.
Your passion might be something minor.
Following your passion may lead you to a new passion.
I’m also using the podcast episodes as a reminder that while I’m the main character in my story, I am a secondary character, at best, and most often a tertiary character in the stories of others. While my beliefs are important to me, they are not as important to others and that is okay. The things others believe, say, and do have nothing to do with me and do not invalidate my beliefs—again, it’s not about me.
Accepting that the stories being written by others are not about you is actually freeing. It allows you to not take things personally, be empathetic to others when there are disagreements, and focus on doing what is right for you and your Pursuit.
See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,
JC
