Follow Your Passion

Since losing my dad a few years ago, I've become a firm, and I mean firm, believer that everything happens for a reason. As cliche as it may sound and as much as some of you may or may not believe it, it's true. 

I'm also a believer in the perfect timing.

You may remember back in May I quit my job of 4 years in the alternative healthcare industry to join an innovative startup company in the healthcare technology field. (If you don't remember, I'll forgive you...just go with it.)

Well...a short 5 months have come and gone and lo and behold, I recently received a little phone call from my old company regarding a "quick meeting" and what I soon found out to be, the job offer of my dreams.

Not that I've hated or regretted my decision to join the startup company, because in the quick 5 months I've been here I've already learned SO much that I would have never learned about my old/new company, but I started to find myself considering it a "just a job", and not a career. I didn't hate it, but then again, I didn't love it and if you know me, you know it's incredibly uncharacteristic of me to not eat, sleep and breathe my career.

Something inside me always told me I'd be back at my old company. Something inside me missed doing what I was so incredibly passionate about. So that something inside me told me to swallow my pride and go back home; go back to my roots...where I bleed natural approaches to health, wellness, nutrition and fitness...where I thrive in such a creative, intelligent environment and where the culture just suits me to the core.

Leaving a company is never easy, whether you've been there 4 years or 5 months. Trust me, I've turned in resignation letters not once, but twice, this year alone and it hasn't been fun. Trust me, if I could ever figure out a way to avoid the utter awkward feeling that follows the day you turn in your notice, I would...

I don't even know if this is even making sense but what I, personally, have learned throughout all of this is the simple fact that no matter where you work, you're going to put up with things you don't necessarily love. There are going to be projects you hate, decisions you think are dumber than the invention of the shake weight, rules you disagree with, people you don't necessarily "click" with, situations that make you incredibly uncomfortable and just certain things that really press your buttons. So...if you're going to put up with stressful projects, decisions that don't make sense to you, the inevitable "company rules, regulations and procedures", people who may not be your best friend or downright awkward situations, you might as well do it with a company and within an industry that you're most passionate about.

What I've also learned, what I hope I can continue to remind myself  years from now and if there is anything you take from all of this...is the fact that there is no amount of money that can pay you to do something you're not happy doing. At least not me, anyways.

I hope this inspires those of you who are out there getting paid just get paid.

Get out there and do what you can't help but love.
Do what you're passionate about.
Do what you're obsessed with.
Do something that excites you.
Do something that fuels your inner fire.
And when you do, do it with all of your heart.

So there. I took the leap, I explored other opportunities but it's time to return to what I love most.

Oh, and if there's one more thing you take from this today, let it be that you will always, always, leave a company on really good terms. ;)

And that's all the wisdom I have for today. Cheers to following your heart, finding your passion and second chances!