It’s excusable to fail at something you don’t care about. But it feels unconscionable to fail at something that you’ve waited your whole life for.
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Nobody seems to say this, when they urge you to find what you love and do it for a living.
Nobody warned me that it would be nearly impossible to go out with friends after work, because I’d be thinking about how much more work I could get done if I stayed home.
Nobody told me how hard it would be to get up in the morning, and face the likelihood of failing to meet my own standards of craftsmanship and beauty and diligence.
Back when I was temping and waitressing, I never thought about work after it was over. I sucked the life out of every weekend. I loved taking naps, I loved eating dinner, and I took long, leisurely runs at sunset almost every day. I never hesitated to go out in the evenings, to hang with friends or see a show.
Now any time I’m supposed to be having fun, I’m thinking about work. That’s what happens when you do what you love: you don’t stop loving it, but the relationship gets a lot more complicated.
I wonder if this is why my dad chose engineering as a career over sports broadcasting. I wonder if this is why my mom quit school to raise me.
Maybe it’s not that simple.
But when you work at something you don’t care much for, it’s easy to let go when you ought to. It’s just this eight-hour blank in the middle of your day. It leaves all your energy for the things you really love.
Sometimes I feel as if it’s not worth it, to be doing what I love. Sometimes I wish for the respite of a job that asks only that I fill a seat for eight hours. Knowing your purpose brings you face-to-face with the possibility of failing to fulfill it.
I never anticipated that doing what I love would involve learning to faithfully fail at it.
- Found this piece here - http://convergemagazine.com/downside-of-doing-what-you-love-7911/
