Even passion has its crappy days

One blog that I subscribe to and read regularly is The Occupational Adventure (sm), written by Curt Rosengren.

One recent post, entitled "Even passion has its crappy days," resonated with me.

Part of the misconception about passion is that it means that life is always like skipping through a field of daisies. The reality is, pursuing your passion is probably going to be more of a challenge than jumping on the treadmill and following where it leads. But it is also going to be infinitely more rewarding.

There are going to be crappy days when you pursue your passion. There are going to be days when you wonder what in the hell you´re doing. There will be days when you will be tempted to skulk back to the treadmill and jump back on.

I've been under the weather lately, and feeling stressed from all the commitments I've made. They're all good commitments, but I was starting to doubt my abilities to do any of them, and thinking how much easier it would be to have no ambitions or dreams. Then there'd be nothing to hurt, right?

Well, maybe, except that feeling no pain because you're numb is much worse than the occasional pain that's a part of growing and stretching. That's what Curt's post helped me realize.

That also ties into something a friend said a while back, that I've been chewing on. He said,

"Happiness is the goal, not the standard."

What that means to me is that, while not everything I do in pursuit of my dreams will make me happy at the moment, doing the right things will make me happier in general and in the long-run. And also that something that may make me temporarily happy might not be the best way to achieve the goal of lifetime happiness.

It's a good thing I've got blogs and friends to help keep me moving towards joy!