Published on 12, July, 2020
A few years ago, I said to my mentor, that I loved doing whatever I was doing. He said, that’s interesting, I only do what I love.
I had no idea what he was talking about at the time but I felt that he had said something profound, so I allowed this thought to sink in and once I realised what it meant, I also made the decision to do only what I love.
It was one of the best decisions I ever made because now, I do only what I love.
How many other people only do what they love and what is their reason for not doing what they love, if that’s the case.
It has created an interesting and exciting journey for me because prior to this, I didn’t really know what I loved doing, I’m still exploring that and it’s been fascinating to see how I’ve lived many years without a clue about what I loved doing. Now I love exploring and finding out what I love to do.
Assuming that most people on here have not won the lottery / inherited a fortune / figured out how to get the state to support them, I imagine that "only doing what you love" only works if you love sleeping on park benches! Evan's posts are probably closer to the reality for most people. I don't think that makes you a failure, it's just ...... life. And you know what, it's just life for a lot of NTs as well, I suspect.
If you take my own personal dichotomy: what I love is spending time in my house (my retreat from the world) with my cats, in front of the fire, and the only way that I can make this happen is by doing my job. My house, small and scruffy as it is, costs a king's ransom in mortgage payments because it is in the SE. And before anyone says "move somewhere cheaper", this is where I am from, where my family is, and within reach of the only available jobs in my line of work, so that is not an option. If I didn't pay the mortgage, I'd have to rent, and no-one around here accepts pets, so my beloved boys would be lost, and that would make me miserable beyond compare.
I don't love my job. Sometimes it's interesting and I even enjoy it, sometimes it's annoying, and sometimes it (or the dreadful commute) actually makes me ill. But it does pay for the occasions when I get to do what I love, so I won't be throwing in the towel any time soon!
Maybe the trick is to only do what you love, or things that facilitate doing what you love??
My house is my retreat from the world as well and I don’t consider anyone a failure.