The Average Carter

“What would you do if you won a million dollars?”  

The theme of several discussions this weekend revolved around doing something you’re passionate about.  They all involved choosing a path/career that focused on doing the most good over the one that provided the most money or financial gain.  The only thing that kept resonating in my head was the scene from “Office Space” where Michael was telling Peter and Samir about the test his school guidance counselor gave him to see what he should do when he got older.  The counselor’s question seemed pretty simple, “what would you do if had a million dollars?”

The whole goal of the exercise is to find out something you’re passionate about.  That passion should reflect through whatever it is you decide to do with your life.  But how much of that is fantasy and how much of that is reality?  What I mean is, if we could all do what we’re passionate about, would we have garbage men, coal miners, septic repair people, etc?  Not to take anything away from those professions, but I don’t think anyone went through high school thinking, “After I graduate I’m going to be a street sweeper.”  I just don’t think it works that way.

I know many people that are content with their work and have a fair balance of income to character.  They appreciate what they have and are willing to give back a little bit of themselves to the people around them.  They aren’t necessarily passionate, but they don’t want to blow up the building or shoot everyone they work with either.  At some point in time they made a compromise between education, income, personal time, and happiness.  Each point was given different degrees of importance and they decision made reflects that compromise.

For example, my decision was to further my education.  My income level has suffered, but my personal time and happiness with what I do are increased.  I know that sounds really asinine, to put it in such logical and ridiculous terms.  But it’s really the only way I know how to explain how we get to certain points in our lives.  We substitute, we compromise, and we make deals with ourselves.  We give up a little bit of this for a little bit of that…all in the hopes of going to one extreme or the other.  Which one it is depends on the person.  Is it to the “dark side” of wanting more money, or to the good fight and being passionate about what you do?

While the million dollar hypothetical might be a little bit leading, it’s all about character.  It’s about finding what makes you tick and productive.  I truly believe that we all have special talents.  We’re built for a purpose and in a “cash is king” society we don’t always make it to that full potential.  We have to pay bills, we have to eat, and we have to survive.  We make those sacrifices to get by and we never quite get back on track.  So what would you do if you could do anything you wanted to do in life?  Would you hunt, build, teach, preach, help the elderly, or something else entirely?  What are you passionate about?

This was the direction I was leaning with the blog at the end of Friday’s post, and then on Sunday we talked about this more in depth during the Momentum for Life class.  I thought it would be good to include the readers in a little of what we discussed along with my own personal views.  Please feel free to leave your comments and answers below.  As always, you don’t have to include any information about yourself you don’t feel comfortable leaving.  Thanks for reading and have a great Monday.