Contributed by by Tanya S.
My relationship isn’t working anymore; I’m not happy; I’ve fallen out of love; my career doesn’t excite me. My life is going nowhere and I don’t know what to do. How many times had I heard this from friends or even said some of the same things to myself? More times than I can count! Frankly, I was tired of it and finally came to this conclusion: I didn’t fall out of love; it wasn’t my career—it wasn’t them, it was me.
I wasn’t following my heart; I didn’t have an intimate relationship with myself; I was looking to outside sources to bring excitement and adventure into my life. With the expectation that others were responsible for my happiness, when the excitement faded, I would blame my job, my boyfriend, everything outside. Then it dawned on me: If I were happy with myself, I wouldn’t need outside sources for the excitement I was seeking.
The fact was, I had abandoned what I loved doing a long time ago: writing, drawing, and being creative. I thought I needed to get an office job to be a success! But the office bored me (or so I thought) and I complained. What really happened was I had stopped being true to myself and ignored my needs and passions. I made my job and my relationship responsible for my happiness. I kept going from job to job and relationship to relationship looking for them to fulfill me. Is it any surprise that things were not going well?
With the view that being happy was an inside job, I asked myself: What did I love to do? Writing made me happy years ago and the thought of doing it made me feel good. So I decided that I would write again. It took some time to get back into the groove but here I am writing blogs, newsletters, tweets, etc. I feel much happier and I am satisfied with my career. I no longer look to my work for excitement, doing what I love is fulfilling and makes me happy—I have a new attitude towards my career and my life, one that I plan to nurture as I design my 2013.
What is your passion? We invite you to share your thoughts in the comment box below.
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