Happiness vs. Passion vs. Reality

cc licensed flickr photo shared by kevbo1983

Then

Somewhere about a decade or so ago, I started my first professional business venture. I say professional because all the landscaping that I did while going to school has been excluded. The business? I was doing structural steel detailing and drafting out of my small one bedroom apartment. I still had a day job but I was convinced this was my road to fortune. I was in my very early 20s and out of school but I still had a lot to learn.

My Apartment Circa 2001.

I even had a few friends helping out. They also had graduated through the same engineering and design program as I did. These were also the days before notebook computers were affordable so we had clunky desktops and bulky CRT monitors sitting on folding tables. This was one of those feast vs famine situations.

Eventually the long hours of chasing work outside of my day job won out. One of my main clients offered me a staff job that was slightly better than my day job so I traded two jobs for one. The road to fortune hit a detour.

Now

Fast forward to today. I consistently earn most of my income from teaching English here in Taiwan. I say consistently, but not primarily,  since I do work on other projects that provide me with spikes in my income but those spikes are not consistent enough to sustain my wife and I.

One of the side businesses that I have been trying to get off the ground the last couple of years is designing custom homes for the Canadian/US market. These are project based contracts, and as a result, I might get one or two projects in one month and then nothing for the next. In recent months there have been more months without projects than with projects, due to the downturn in the North American economy. However, I am confident that things will pickup again.

While I have been residing in Taipei I have also attempted other projects but I always end up going back to working for the man.

My Point

I titled this post Happiness vs. Passion vs. Reality so let me explain. In pursuit of happiness I usually end up trying to seek out and explore new passion projects only to have to face reality.

I call passion projects the projects that I am willing to put all I have got into. Projects that I wouldn’t mind working on, and have, for more than 24 hours without a break other than to eat or go to the bathroom. These are projects that gave me reason to get up in the morning. Projects that let me expand out of my usual comfort zones and security blankets.

Now for the reality. A lot of these projects are just that, projects. But these projects are what shape individuals and what gives our lives purpose. They are not always successful but they bring us, myself specifically, one step closer to making passion and happiness a reality.

The suggestion that usually gets made is, “just get a regular job”. But I don’t want a “regular job”. These are the jobs that are usually referred to as the 40-40 club. Forty hours a week for forty years, then retirement. Then a pat on the pack on off you go. I find it hard to be truly passionate about regular jobs, and without passion it’s hard for happiness to follow.

I strongly believe that if you follow your passion then happiness does become a reality.

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