Following your Heart

The last thing I would ever wish to do is stomp on someone else's dream; and there have been times when I knew I was in contention with someone else who really, really wanted something that - for me - did not have the same value, other than a source of income. The passion just wasn't there for me, so I let go and stepped aside.

The problem - how to explain why I didn't want what appeared to be a very good opportunity(s) at the time, one that could certainly have improved my financial status and most likely sent me higher up the career ladder.

The best explanation I could offer was that my heart wasn't in it. I knew the result might be attractive but I didn't want to live on that path on the way to my result. I have had to let a few other things go, along with that result, but they had more to do with the external trappings.

The important stuff I have continued to explore, expand, and build upon. In the end, I learned it wasn't the job I wanted; I wanted a life.

"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time."

- Jack London