Since I’ve shared my story of being pushed out of the nest of a comfortable life, and into the free fall of trying to make a living doing things I love, others have shared similar narratives.
A friend of mine used to be a highly successful mortgage broker. You can probably guess at the transition he encountered during 2008. But he has always been a highly talented musician, and the decision to close down his brokerage led to him pursuing some music gigs. Today he maintains the same standard of living as a musician that he did when he was running the business and keeping his passions on the back burner.
Another friend of mine has decided that, since his insurance and other renewable items run out at the end of the month, he’s going to close down his construction business. Not due to lack of work – he just sees it as the right time to pursue things more in line with his life’s passions.
I know of two guys who have been putting off starting their own non-profit, mostly because the non-profit they were working for provided them with a decent income. Now it’s going under, and they’ve decided to do what they’ve been putting off for years – start their own non-profit.
In nearly every story about someone chasing their passion, whether it’s starting a business or becoming self-employed or going after that dream job, there’s a force that has pushed them out of their comfort zone. It almost seems necessary.
So what do you think? Should we wait until that force kicks us out of the nest before we start chasing our dream life? Should we be preparing ourselves for that moment all the time? Should we just jump on our own, without being chased out?
Maybe you’ve already jumped or been pushed out? I’d love to hear your story, too.
My story is still being written. I got a job this week after almost 2 years of unemployment. The job pays roughly was I was getting from Unemploment (translation: less than half of what I was making 2 years ago), but I can’t wait to see where God is going with all of this! I’ve grown and changed so much in the last two years and none of it would have happened if I was still working at my old job. God knows what He’s doing and I trust Him, even when it seems to make less and less sense all the time : )