USING CLUES FROM YOUR PAST TO REVEAL HAPPINESS
"Think back to what you enjoyed doing as a child and then find a career that encompasses that." Did you ever get that career advice? I did, and in fact, I event went into wedding planning after considering how, as a child, I enjoyed setting the table and creating name cards for Thanksgiving each year. And the job I have currently is directly related to the fact that I love to manage projects, something I discovered through wedding planning. And so is the circle of life (haha).
Recently, I discovered something quite on accident that relates to this simple career advice. I am the busiest I have been in ten years and for the first time, I feel truly exuberantly happy. It's not that I haven't been happy, obviously writing a happiness blog means I do have happiness in my life, but I haven't felt this happy for a long long time. When I ask myself what has changed, I realize that much like the career question, it goes back to what I enjoyed or did when I was young.
In my case, I was involved in anything and everything, especially in high school. Even after high school, I had four jobs, a radio station internship, and a date every night that I didn't work. In short, I was busy. I pushed myself to the limit of what I could accomplish in one day and I flourished. Except that over the last ten years, I stopped flourishing. I instead settled into one job, stayed home on weeknights, and decidedly cut back on doing million-and-one different things. I stopped stretching myself.
As of now, I am stretching myself more than I have in ten years. I have a new(er) role at work that is a new frontier for me. I am writing this blog weekly and working to publish a podcast (coming soon!). I spend date nights with my husband, fit in some freelance work, and spend time with my friends. I say all this not to brag or even pretend that I do all of the things well, but to highlight that I am pretty dang busy and for the first time, I'm back to living a life I fully love- one full of new challenges, things to learn, and hustling from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep.
What did you do when you were younger that may be missing in your life now? Has it helped or hindered your happiness? I'm not saying go back to bad habits or poor lifestyles you had when you were young, but consider the healthy things you did and why you may have stopped them.
Photo by Oleg Chursin