They told me to do what I love and I’ll never work a day in my life. I believed them.
I was an extremely lucky young person, especially as it came time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. My parents always encouraged and supported whatever I said I wanted to do. As I have watched several of my own music students struggle to convince their own parents of why pursuing a music career is the right choice for them, I now see how remarkably fortunate I was.
Today, when I tell people what I do for a living, there can be a tone of jealousy in their voices. To their ears, I’m living my best life after taking that chance on pursuing my dreams. Often, they will recount the “dream” they didn’t pursue for one reason or another. What they don’t know is that just because I did chase my dreams, it hasn’t been the “happy ever after” story they assume it to be.
There have been some “consequences” to pursuing what I love. And there have been challenges about which nobody told me I would face.
One of the biggest things I wish I had known was that having a love for what I do doesn’t mean that the path will be easy. In fact, thinking that loving what you do is enough to power through obstacles encountered is a guarantee for getting STUCK.
When I set off to follow my dreams, I was also completely unaware of the kinds of challenges I would have to face. For instance, I had no idea I would fall out of love with music. Or that pursuing a field of study that was populated by people “just like me” would still put me face-to-face with bullies and meanies, or that I would still feel like an outsider.
Despite the challenges, obstacles, and consequences of pursuing my dreams, I’m so grateful for everything I’ve learned along the way.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that challenges are a natural and normal just part of the journey. No matter what! As soon as we dream chasers can accept this, we might be more likely to welcome those obstacles with open hearts and know they are for our best and highest good. We might still get STUCK, but at least we’ll know it’s for a purpose!
In this episode of Growing in Uncertainty, I speak to the things “they” never told me about pursuing my dreams. And I highlight the negative and not-so-negative (a.k.a., dare I say, positive?) consequences of being led by your heart toward doing what you love.