Passion or Practicality?…That is the Question

As bad as the economic downturn was for many of us (and believe me it was BAD for a while there) I was provided with a great opportunity. The opportunity to go back to school and complete my (traditional) education. (Originally written on Mon, Aug 30, 2010)

I call it an opportunity because after so many years in business, finance and training, I never found time to earn my degree. I mean I was a student of my craft and studied everyday anyway but I did not have that “degree” which seems to carry some weight in certain economic times or to certain types of people or institutions.

However you look at it, I was quickly hit with the age old question;

Should I choose based on Passion or Practicality?

Should I study something that I am passionate about and go from there? or should I use school as a backup plan to my main plan of building a business?

Passion:

Would make school a much more enjoyable experience. It would definitely let me know “how” passionate I am about the subject (or if it was just a curiosity)

Practicality:

Might make my journey a little more tedious (or a lot) but may open my mind up to some new and interesting things I did not know about. Practicality might cover me if my personal passion journey does not end up paying the bills.

There are obviously many more things to balance out but this is what I started with.

To some of you, this may be a real simple decision. To others, a lifelong decision-making process that never gets answered or completed (analysis paralysis).

More than the issue of making this decision was my history of being passionate about something and it basically being taken away from me based on market conditions, legislation, demand, geographic location or whatever else.

The point is that if you are passionate about something and it is taken away from you, it hurts and it may be more difficult to jump into something else with such reckless abandonment the next time around.

This is much like a relationship that you put all your heart and soul into, only to find out that the person you loved was not in love with you and not only that but was having an affair for a while before you found out.

Will you ever be able to love to the depth that you loved in that first relationship? Would your newfound knowledge of people and relationships carve out new rules for relationships from there on out?

Will your future relationships be based on passion or practicality. I don’t mean to make the comparison between a business and a relationship but I believe that passion is passion and if you are serious about something (someone) you put a piece of your heart into it.

This is a universal subject that can range from the person who just went through their first heartbreak all the way to the person that lost most of their retirement account (and was about to retire).

These people pretty much know what it feels like to get punched in the “spiritual and emotional” gut.

Here are a few things that I have learned and done while trying to catch my breath.

Life Goes On! Plain and simple, you will continue to age, days will continue to pass you by and time will go on no matter what you have experienced. It behooves you to do the best with the time that you have left.

Excitement is right around the corner! Like I said earlier, each bad experience that we have in life opens the door to another one. I for one am actually thankful on some level because my experience “shook” me out of the complacency I had carved out for myself. I am now ready, available and up for my next challenge, whatever that may be.

You have to get up! OK, so you were knocked down. You were devastated. Do you really think that re-living the situation and dwelling on it for the next few years will really bring anything back? Get over it! Learn from it! and move forward.

Ok, now that I am done with this tangent I am going to tell you that I am working on both passion and practicality. Slowly but surely I am completing my life goals. School has become my choice for practicality. This is what I will use to back up any of my personal projects. It is also filled with excitement and I am learning new things daily that I can use in my personal and business life. I am becoming better equipped and armed for future “situations”.

I am also working on another passion project of mine. I have to thank the recent economic downturn for this one. Once I saw that my business as it existed was gone. I felt a strong push towards coaching and education. This burning desire coupled with the miracle of the internet has led me to work on my new project.

This website is where I am taking my years of experience and knowledge and sharing it with the world. I am doing my part in helping people get back on track spiritually and emotionally. Especially after their particular “experience”.

The full introduction to this site is better left for another post but in the meantime pass by and let me know what you think.

So I am now working on both sides of the fence and I will see what happens from here. Which way will you decide to go? Passion? or Practicality?

The blessing is that I have these options to begin with. Everything else is up to me, If I decide not to do anything, well that’s my fault too.

I hope you enjoyed this little trip into my mindset and that you learned and took something positive from it.

Let me know what you think about my thoughts at that time?

Any Questions? Connect with me through my app http://wix.to/xUBKBwc?ref=so

LOVE-INSPIRE-HEAL