Follow my Passion?

I love the self help books that say to follow your passion. It's a great idea, in theory, or if you can actually follow through with the idea. Find what it is you really love to do, and start doing it as your job. Then you'll love getting up every day and going in to work. Hooray! You win! Life is wonderful! Yippee!
      That is a great idea! I love it, I really do. I wish everybody could do that with their lives. We'd have a happier planet, that's for sure. It's just that we wouldn't get any ditches dug, dishes washed, or windows cleaned. Who will be doing all the menial and manual labor? Not me, that's for sure. I'm following my passion! I love what I do. I have no time for these simple tasks. Bah!
      Ah, but there's the rub then, eh? We all have the time for the simple tasks. Our own simple tasks anyway. Taking care of all of our own responsibilities. Wash our own dishes, cook our own food, shovel our own driveways. Which is what we're supposed to do anyway. Unless you can pay to have someone else do it.
     The problem is, most people don't follow through with the idea. They think about how nice it would be if they could only be doing their favorite thing every day instead of this stupid job that I hate, and the boss that I hate, and all the BS that I have to put up with there. They just don't understand me! They've told themselves that they can't do it for a multitude of reasons. I'm too old, it's too hard, I'm not smart enough, etc., etc., etc. You get the idea. As someone once said, nothing worth doing is ever easy. It's probably going to take hard work and a lot of EFFORT on your part. The easiest part, hopefully, is figuring out what you want to do. Then you take the steps to get to that goal. What are the steps? Do I gotta tell you everything? Do the research. Google your questions, that's what you have the internet for. If you don't have it, (how are you reading this blog by the way?), go to your local library and use theirs. It's free. If you don't know how to use it, ask a librarian! Or be ancient, and get your information from books. The internet is faster, and will intuit your answers sometimes, but some folks are just old school. Then, get moving towards that goal. You should probably write it down too. No one will make it happen but you. Sure, you're friends and family are there to support you, but mommy will not be dragging your ass out of bed to get you on your way. You are your own perpetual motion machine. By your will shall you move.
     The figuring out what to do has always been the hard part for me. Following my passion takes some slowing down of the defining process. My passion for soul-fulfilling work, not just passion for passion. If I had my druthers, my passion would be getting a good buzz on and watching a kick-ass political thriller movie, smoking another joint halfway through it while having a few drinks. After the movie, head down to my favorite watering hole and meet up with a few friends for drinks and good times for a couple of more hours. Eventually when I'm too buzzed or tired to keep going on, I stumble on home to have a quick snack, then fall into bed in a heap and black out until I have to get up. That was my passion for a very long time. I'm not going to get into the psychoanalysis of the why I am/was like that here, but suffice it to say that something was lacking in my life. I guess I never slowed down enough to figure out what that was.
      So now, I think I've found my passion. I do have a passion for writing this blog now that I'm doing it. Thank you for pushing me in this direction Serena. I've always enjoyed writing anyway, so that's great. I don't know if I can parlay that into a career or not, but I'll still keep doing it. My other passion is for gardening. I really love gardening. I've even got a business idea for it that I'm working towards as well. It's in it's infancy, but I am slowly making it happen. The hard thing for me to have is patience. I've only been sober for 2 years, but the ideas are flowing now, and I'm just a little stifled by my current cash flow to make things happen. Plus there's no way I can get a business loan at this time. I have to prove to the banks that I'm a reliable and trustworthy person. With my track record, I understand how they have not come to that realization just yet. Also, as is the other main point of this blog, my teeth are falling out of my head, and I need to get that fixed as well. I've got a plan in place though, and am working it as I write. My current job pays a decent wage, and I've got insurance, but it's just getting by. Hand to mouth. After paying all the bills, and the surprise expenses that always seem to pop up out of nowhere, there's very little left over for saving, or investing. The logical conclusion now is, find a better paying job. Here's where my last post comes to bite me in the ass. There is a definite lack of jobs out there. I've been doing a little looking recently, and I can see why people are hurting. Perhaps I was a little too cavalier about the job searching, and the finding of the job on my last post. It's harder than I thought. I stand corrected. But I do stand by the notion that it's not impossible, and you will find what you need eventually. It's gonna be a bitch till you find it, but if you keep trying and don't give up, I believe you'll find it.
     So, follow your passion....if you dare. It'll take hard work, sacrifice, and determination, but I believe it can be achieved. Do you want to be happy? Do you want to do what you love to do? Or would you rather be miserable in a shit job, not making enough money. It's up to you. As the United States Marine Corps. say: "Improvise, Adapt,and Overcome". Go for it! As always, brush your teeth, and pay your bills!