Follow Your Passion to Happiness

Kelly Gonzalez
Busy Bodies
Date Published: May 20, 2009

I would like to let you in on a little secret. If you want to be happy follow your passion.
When I returned home from living in Australia for 6 months this past April I immediately felt the societal pressure to find the quickest way to start making the most money possible. I’m a recent college graduate. I have student loans to pay, and the money that I did have left my wallet down in Australia. I was faced with that single question, “what are you going to do with your life now?”

I’ve always been involved in the fitness industry, but felt as though it wasn’t going to be very lucrative due to the struggling economy. Therefore, I started exploring my options. Grad school would be costly, and basically I would be in the same predicament that I’m in now- job-hunting. So I started looking into attending nursing school. After all, there’s a shortage of nurses so I would most likely be able to get a job after graduation, and since I already have my bachelors I could do a one- year accelerated program, and voila- a stable salary. Sounds easy right?

I’ve never been one to take the easy way out. I knew I wasn’t passionate about nursing. My mother’s a nurse; a great nurse at that. I respect the position, compassion, and intelligence that nursing requires, but after shadowing in a hospital, touring nursing schools, and even working in a doctor’s office, I knew it wasn’t for me. It didn’t make me happy, and I knew it was never going to. I would rather live a simple life and be happy than slave away day after only for the money wishing I was doing something else, or could be someone else.

If there’s one thing about happiness it’s that it always shows through in a person. If you are miserable everyone knows it, and what’s worse is that it starts to make others feel miserable too. On the other hand, if you’re happy and content, you can help others feel the same. A study in the British Medical Journal found that “when someone gets happy, that person’s friend (a person in contact with the individual) experiences a 25 percent increased chance of becoming happy.” Happiness is contagious.A person must take full responsibility for their happiness. Other people and situations can’t make you happy, sad, or angry. If they do you’re allowing it to happen.

To me, it seems like so many people are waiting for happiness. They say, “When I meet the right person I’ll be happy,” “Once I’m done school, get a job, and have a good salary, I’ll be happy.” How can you wait for something like happiness? Is it worth it to be miserable all week at work, and only experience joy on the weekends? You may even feel stressed in your free time, because you know you eventually have to go back to a job you dislike.

You may be thinking, “well I have to, I have no choice.” What I’m most grateful for regarding my education is that I have learned that you ALWAYS have choices. Education equals opportunity. It doesn’t have to be structured education in a university or trade school setting either. It could be networking, meeting new people, asking questions, searching the Internet. There are opportunities out there, but you have to look for them. Trust me, if you want something bad enough, you will always find a way to make it happen. I believe that the search and journey towards a goal is such an amazing time. It’s absolutely elating, because you become a problem solver, and the puzzle is YOU! Why is there so a rush to get it done and over with?

What do you want out of life? You have to see what’s out there, what’s realistic for you, and you may have to take some big risks. It’s not easy, but when something’s too easy, how boring is that?
If you read biographies of happy successful people you’re likely to find that they followed their passion even though their philosophies and ideas may have seemed unconventional and far-fetched. Financial success isn’t everything, but obviously it’s important. Financial success seems to occur naturally for those who do what they love, because they firmly believe in what they do, and love every second of it. Work isn’t work at all.

I believe in childish ambition with one foot firmly on the ground. Throw your fears aside, pursue your dreams, open yourself up to new opportunities, but yet still have a realistic plan, do your research, and evaluate your risks. Children never say, “When I grow up, I want to be stressed out, work extremely long hours in a job I despise, and never have time for pleasure.”
If you follow your passion, you will still come across obstacles and endure stressful times along the way to success, but at least you know it’s worth it, and as long as you stay positive there’s nothing stopping you!