Pursuing Passion is Necessary to Achieve Happiness and Fulfillment

I truly believe that the dedication towards my mental health advocacy is the primary reason I am comfortable in my own skin, and I find that approval of others is an irrelevant matter when I wake up and love what I do. Just the idea of waking up into a mundane existence, where the work I do feels meaningless, haunts me. It’s why I’ve worked so hard to avoid it for the past bunch of years. It’s hard for me to separate following dreams from mental health. It’s an inherent aspect of happiness and a life worth living, and this pursuit should be prioritized over anything, because it is where you can bring the most value to the world around you and ultimately to yourself. That balance between serving yourself and serving others is where we can find true happiness. If someone can offer a better way, I’m open to it. In my experience, though, trusting my intuition of shining light on mental health, and searching for creative ways to do so, is what fulfills me and gives me a sense of security that is more protective than anything else. It comes down to the fact that I am doing something that makes my heart sing, while knowing it is making a positive impact on others. Since the moment I decided to say screw it and start my mental health podcast and commit to an honest conversation surrounding mental health, so many incredible opportunities and connections, and amazing people have come into my life. This is because I am in my element, and people can hear the passion that I speak with and want to support my goals because they know it means something to me.

There are countless examples of people who are depressed because they hate their jobs, or major, and feel as though they are pursuing something that wasn’t chosen by them, or were, but they are now sick of it. They might know on the inside that changing their path in life would change everything, but fear of change and discomfort can feel like an unstoppable force that’s weighing them down, disallowing them from chasing their dreams. It might be fear of failure or fear of success. Maybe their parents or friends don’t support their dreams, or they don’t understand, and they don’t want to disappoint them. F*** all of that. These are such normal thoughts, and I have struggled with these debilitating fears in the past, but the moment I decided to walk the path that spoke to my heart and soul, I found a joy in life I never once experienced.

I firmly believe that following dreams is the point of living. We all have gifts, whether they are naturally exposed or they are initially locked away and forced to be brought about with hard work, dedication and soul searching. All of us can look inward, and find that thing we love to do. It might not be apparent right away, and the specifics could take a while to find. However, I know that if we take the external factors out of play, and choose to ignore the irrational fears that others will judge us, or say mean things, or disown us, we can become the person we were born to be. 

My message to you is don’t just sit there and accept mediocrity in your life, because in my opinion, this is why so many feel depressed, anxious and worthless. Everyone has a passion within, and even if it’s not apparent at the moment, constant action, and forward movement is how you will find out what that is. This is not an easy task, and I would never discriminate against someone who isn’t doing what they love, but I will say that the only way to make life meaningful is to do something of meaning. The beauty of human beings is that we all have our own definition of meaning, and our own unique wiring and the choice to bring that individuality into the world. You don’t have to do something noble like advocate for an important cause or save lives for a living, but by following your passion, you automatically become a more grateful person, and of more value to the people you love simply by feeling good about yourself.

One of the silver linings of the isolation induced by COVID-19 is that we are forced to sit with our own thoughts. We all have a choice to make right now. We can sit in our rooms, sulking and binge watching every second of every day and refuse to change, or we can take that seemingly impossible step of looking inward, and listen to what our minds are saying. Then, no matter how challenging or scary discomfort is, take some freaking risk. Update that resume, educate yourself about a new field, build that website, start that blog, learn the business behind becoming a trainer, whatever it is, follow what your intuition is saying. 

Trust me, I know this isn’t an easy thing to do, and trying to find your passion will challenge you in ways you’ve never felt challenged. It will force you to think practically about what you love and whether or not it can become a suitable career. This pursuit is all that matters, though. As someone who has felt debilitating stress and anxiety, and a lack of self worth and overwhelming insecurity to the point of self-hatred, but has found the other side and now asks for no one else’s approval, I assure you that following your dreams is the path you must follow to love yourself, and in this short life we get, nothing is important than that.