When I Grow Up, I’m Gonna be a…

Good morning!

I hope you had a great weekend. We’ve had some setbacks with my son Evan, so it has truly been an opportunity to practice what I teach. I will tell you, sometimes it feels impossible. His illness and brain damage causes him to rage in a way that is unimaginable for most. At those moments, saying “It Is What It Is” isn’t always realistic. If you have something in your life that is causing you challenges, give yourself permission to be sad, scared, grieve, or whatever you need to do. The real test is whether or not you can get up the next day and keep pluggin’. I think that is why it so important to find things that you love, to help get through the tough times.

Do you remember the commercial that had a cute little boy wearing an over-sized suit and said, “When I grow up, I wanna claw my way to middle management and be a yes man.”

I remember almost falling out of my seat laughing the first time I saw it. At what point in our lives did we say, “I guess I’ll just settle”? I have the privilege of meeting so many amazing people, and too few of them are living up to their passion, their purpose, or their potential. Why? With all of the phenomenal resources at our disposal, why would be possibly allow ourselves to settle?

In “The Four-Hour Work Week“, author Timothy Ferriss is speaking to the importance of loving what you do. He tells a story about sitting in a hotel lobby and checking his email on a vacation. Two women got off the elevator, looked at him and whispered, “Isn’t it sad? He can’t even have a vacation without working”. He said to himself, “Isn’t it sad that these two women have to do a job they hate for 50-weeks a year and only escape for 2-weeks”?

What do you love to do so much that you would do it on vacation?

My mom is 61, decided to be a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines when she was 51 (and just won flight attendant of the month), and informed me today she was going to take singing lessons because she wants to do professional jingles! (Sorry mom, it was too good not to share.) This is all in addition to her court reporting career and helping me raise Evan. If anyone can do it, it’s her. I’ve never seen someone live more passionately.

If you can’t take what you love and translate it into a career, take a class, read a book, learn more about it, explore it as a hobby, but give yourself permission to do it. You deserve to enjoy your life. It is the ONLY one you have.

What do you love to do, and how will you re-charge yourself by adding it to your life?