April 17, 2013 · by thetruthyoualwaysknew ·
Throughout the last few years, as I’ve been contemplating what to do with my life, I’ve realized that everyone is afraid to do what they love. How do I know? Too many people work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, doing something that they don’t love to do.
Why? I think it’s because somewhere down their paths, they were too afraid. I think a lot of it comes from being scared of failure, being embarrassed or being made fun of. People don’t go for their goals because of what people might say or think.
I’ve been down this line of thought many times, and I’ve realized that beneath it all, the one thing we ALL are, is afraid. It’s our one and only major limitation to do anything. It’s the fundamental thing that keeps us all from where we want to be, from striving to be great.
We all back away from things every day, because we’re scared. Scared to ask for a raise, scared to try your own thing, scared to ask her out, scared of rejection and humiliation, scared of opinions and perceptions, scared of change.
You need to grow your comfort zone. Think of your current comfort zone as a puddle of water. Now think of the situations you are afraid of as smaller puddles, slightly out of reach. As you go towards and confront those “scary” situations, your comfort zone grows, and those once unreachable spots become things you no longer fear. They become a part of your new, larger comfort zone. And now, much further, at a time much more “scary” situations, are just one step away from being comfortable to you.
Imagine what you could achieve if so much of what you currently fear was comfortable for you? Imagine what you could achieve if you weren’t embarrassed to fail.
Actually, it’s only through failure that can you really achieve anything.
Find what you love to do and do it. And since you love doing it, you’ll always want to do it, and you’ll do it so well. Cause it won’t be work.
And if you’re not sure about what you want to do, just start doing something and you’ll find it.
I’m telling you. Everyone’s too afraid to do what they love. Everyone’s too afraid to be vulnerable.
To be made fun of:
“But what if this doesn’t work? What if I fail miserably? What if no one likes what I do and I waste years of my youth trying to do it? I’ll be a laughing stock.”
If you don’t try, you’ll never know.
Here’s one of my all time favorite quotes:
It’s one of my favorite quotes because it’s so goddamn true. So many people don’t shoot. Too many.
For what? Because you might fail? And if you do, so what? What do you really have to lose? At least if you try, you’ll know what you’re worth. And more than likely, that is so much more than you can even imagine.
You’ve probably had your own moments of self doubt, or had other people tell you “It’s too risky,” or “Come on, be realistic.”
And for those moments of doubt, I’ll borrow some thoughts I’ve heard from Will Smith:
It was unrealistic to think you can walk in a room, flip a switch and have a light go on, but thankfully, Edison and others weren’t realistic.
It was unrealistic to think that you’re going to bend giant pieces of metal, and fly people over an ocean, in that metal, but thankfully, the Wright brothers and others, weren’t realistic.
It just seems like such a ridiculous idea for me, to embrace the notion of “it’s not gonna happen, it’s not real to think that’s going to happen”. As soon as you think that, you just made that true.
Why would you be realistic? What’s the point of the being realistic?
Never doubt that a small, committed group of thoughtful individuals can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
– Margaret Mead
So do what you love. You at least owe it to yourself to try.
Some people might think you’re crazy.
I think crazy is working 40 hours a week doing what you don’t love to do.
From off the web at: http://thetruthyoualwaysknew.com/2013/04/17/everyone-is-afraid-to-do-what-they-love/
Counseling TidBits 
Great article. I believe it extends beyond having an occupation you love. One has to expand themselves and not be afraid to try anything new.
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Yes. “Follow Your Bliss”. ;)
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Some futurists predict that over 70% of today’s jobs will be done by robotics within the next 10-15 years, which certainly is going to present an occupational challenge.
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Hey Bob – What happened to “be here now” ? ;) No fear, no problem!
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Hehe, I’m retired, so I’m sitting back and watching the wheel spin round and round. Some imagine that be here now excludes the past and future, btw, but that’s not quite correct. Past, present, and future all are appearing within the space of now. Consequently we can learn from our past, and plan for our future, without ever leaving the spaciousness of now.
When most people hear slogans like “Be here now”, they think that “the present” is only appearing for a short time — a moment — and so needs to be grasped onto, in order to avoid “missing it”. However, whatever happens to appear in the present moment is perhaps more accurately recognized as simply the manifestation of the present moment, a transient and non-binding expression or modification of Now.
Something arises in the space of Now momentarily and then disappears. Then something else appears and vanishes. What remains is a fundamental ground of Stillness – an open sky-like vastness — out of which everything is emerging and into which everything is dissolving. This “Stillness” is another name for our own pure Awareness.
To verify this, we can inquire of ourselves: “What does it feel like to be what I truly am – to set aside the fleeting sensations of embodiment, to set aside the narrative of my personal history, to let go of all compulsive thinking and emotional reactivity, to surrender all memory associations, all hopeful or fearful speculative projections – what remains that is true, and what does that really feel like?”
What we can notice, if we are able to release that whole bundle of conditional identifications and fall unencumbered into the natural presence of Now, is that we are more than the person, more than the story of the separate and independent body-mind-self that we typically take ourselves to be. Beyond all that, what we truly are is this brilliant space of Awareness – always present, always effulgent, ever-free of any limit or qualification.
Consequently, when we realize what Now really Is – this fundamental ground of our own Awareness in which everything inheres and has its being – then we can naturally relax into the condition of our primordial peace, without the need to manipulate outcomes or create some reason to be apprehensive about the appearance or disappearance of any circumstance, event, or person.
Moreover, to be truly present in the “here and now” does not mean that we never thoughtfully consider and learn from the past, nor does it mean that we need not plan responsibly for the future. As Thich Nhat Hanh notes: “The idea is simply not to allow yourself to get lost in regrets about the past or worries about the future. If you are firmly grounded in the present moment, the past can be an object of inquiry, the object of your mindfulness and concentration. You can attain many insights by looking into the past, but you are still grounded in the present moment.”
The only challenge about all of this comes when we begin to complicate — when we cling to and fixate on a time-bound identity. In that case, the three times of past, present, and future all become variations on a prison — a prison of our own design. In reality, we are timeless awareness, shining as the radiance of Source Itself, illuminating this all-inclusive moment Now with the divine light of open spacious Presence.
Blessings!
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“when we cling to and fixate on a time-bound identity. In that case, the three times of past, present, and future all become variations on a prison”
Amen
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