Do what you love...love what you do.

If you're one of those people who hate their job, have you considered that you haven't spent time figuring out what you love and what your passions are? So many of us wonder around trying to find ourselves so long, that we forget who we were.  I think you're designed to be good at something and to spend your life doing anything is just a waste.

In first grade, we had a day where we had to dress up as what we wanted to be when we grew up. I dressed up as an artist. At the tender age of seven, most kids want to be firemen, doctors, and as one friend laughingly told me, she wanted to be a waitress. Her aspirations are a little higher at this point (she's 18), but you know what, she would be a fantastic waitress! She's so friendly and is great at letting things roll off her shoulders. But so many young American kids get pushed to do what's going to make you the most money. Which also becomes such a large part of the career path decisions.

So my next question is, "Are you only doing it for the money, or would you still do what you're doing for free?" Most people would say, "Heck no!"  Well guess what, I would definitely do my job for free (if I were independently wealthy of course). I love it that much! It's part of who I am. Now, i understand that we don't all have obvious, God-given talents, but I do believe we are all born with special abilities to do one job especially well and you might just need to spend some time pondering what yours is. 

I always tell people, "Figure out what you love doing and find out how to make money doing it". We do still live in a society where you have every opportunity to create, or recreate yourself. Why are you getting up every day and going to a job you hate? Now, hate may be a strong word for you. You might just be in the place where you're thinking, "I've been doing it too long and I wouldn't be able to start over". That is not true. You're lying to yourself to stay in our comfort zone.

So how do you begin? I really believe that what you did most as a child defines who you really are before life began to tell you who it wanted you to be. You start by thinking back to your childhood. What did you spend the most of your time doing? Playing in the sandbox, then you're probably a social person who plays well with others and you should be in a job where you're working closely with people to solve problems. Or maybe you were supposed to work in a job where you're actually moving dirt to build things. I'm no expert in this area. 

I might have dressed up in first grade as an artist, but I didn't even know I actually had some talent for drawing until I was 12. My Dad brought me a "How to Draw" book and sketch pad back from a business trip. He and I sat at the kitchen table and each took a turn at drawing the face of this little girl. His looked a little like her, but mine looked exactly like her! I was shocked! I never knew I could look at something and draw it. I'd been trying to draw out of my head all those years before and wasn't very good at it (I'm still not). But I can draw anything I can see. That was the start of a live long career, but at the time I only saw it as a lot of fun! 

By the time I hit high school, I'd learned some techniques, but still couldn't imagine how I could make a career out of art. I never considered myself a "fine artist", just a skilled one. So I kept going down the thought paths of "normal careers." Finally I took a commercial art class my senior year of high school. A whole new world was opened up to me...advertising.

I was from a small, Southern town and graphic design was like a foreign word. Now that personal computers are at everyone's fingertips, most people know what it is, but even after I graduated from college with a BA degree specializing in graphic design, my parents didn't understand exactly what it was I was going to be doing.

So from dressing up in first grade as an artist, to being an artist, I'd say I'm who I'm supposed to be and I'm doing what I was designed to do. 

I challenge you to spend some time pondering your career choice. D you love it? Are you passionate about it? What steps can you take today toward your life's calling?