Do What You Love

A good educational background and work history can provide many career opportunities, but while they all may be obtainable, not all are beneficial.  Being an indentured servant merely for a wage can be life-draining and turn you into a human zombie – where your heart beats, but there’s no life, no passion and no vision.  Where there is no vision, there is death.

I’ve been a slave, an indentured servant and an entrepreneur.  While I was able to provide sufficiently and financially for my family, my heart was always searching for something or somewhere else.  I learned to persevere and endure my situations.  I also learned a lot of other important life lessons, ones that developed my skills and sharpened my talents.  I greatly appreciate every experience, even the one’s I hated, because I still learned something. 

However, now that I’m pursuing what I believe I was born to do, to chase the dream that I dared to dream, and step out into the unknown with no guarantees and no promises, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.  I’m learning to do without a lot of those materialistic and physical things I used to think I had to possess in order to claim success.  It’s the intangible that matters most.

Don’t get me wrong.  I still need capital in order to function, to be able to chase my dream, to have the opportunities to experience many of the intangibles that so enrich my life, and I couldn’t do this without my family’s help and support, both emotionally and financially. Being broke and homeless would only force me back into slavery and indentured servitude, so I understand that it is my family’s love and support for me that affords me this opportunity.  It is upon their shoulders in which I stand. I hope I can return the favor for them as well.  It is that love they give me, combined with my passion for what I do, that propels me into the ether.  When I succeed, it is not I alone who prospers, but all of us together. 

My heart goes out to all those reaching for their dreams on their own.  This fight is hard enough with a great support system; I can’t imagine how difficult it is alone, or filled with adamant opposition.  For those considering to take the leap – I’d advise setting up a good foundation of support before jumping. However, don’t lose your courage, and be determined to jump, even if you have to do it by faith alone.  Do what you have to, but above all, do what you love.

Till next time,

~T.L. Gray