I've been hearing a lot lately about "finding your passion," usually in the context of business. Within the confines of business seminars, I've met entrepreneurs, even would-be ones, who've taken the plunge and ditched everything to "find their passion." Apparently, when someone has "found their passion" in business, this is somehow supposed to translate into a business that is both lucrative and fulfilling.
Nonsense!
Yep... I said it! Just another opportunity to sell programs based on you chasing a feeling. You want to feel fulfilled because your day-to-day is has gotten mundane. You're working for the weekend, and in between, you're drained at the end of the day. "Was this it?" You're asking about your post-college life. You've probably went so far as to fill that void you're feeling by getting married... or even by having kids! I'm not saying that getting married and having kids is somehow wrong, but consider what were your reasons for doing so? The REAL reasons...
I've seen it time and time again. People with great incomes and careers going through their day in disgust. In the midst of their despair, along comes a speaker with an opportunity. This speaker hashes out the same sales stories from another seminar. They brag to you about how much money they've made, when secretly they're hoping just to cover the cost of the seminar you're sitting in.
You've made the mistake of-- or "investment" as some would justify it as-- buying someone's program because they've made an offer so good that you have to do it! In addition to the offer that's so good, the speaker said you can only do it that day at that moment before they have to raise the price for some obscure reason!
I know! I've been there too! It's exciting. It's the promise of hope and deliverance from the lack of fulfillment we all feel at times. Some of us have even made radical life changes without thinking. Rather than taking the time to plan a proper exit, we've dumped everything into said opportunity hoping for some sense of salvation.
I'm actually not slamming the seminar world. There are many lucrative and fulfilling opportunities out there, presented by some very caring and endearing people. My intention is to help you--if this applies to you--recognize that these opportunities may not be the thing you're looking for.
What I've come across, while being a "seminar junkie" myself, is this phenomenon of spiritual depletion. We've gotten so caught up in chasing fulfillment through achievement that we begin to lose site of what's truly important... our relationship with God. Our careers, providing for our families, having to make a living, all serve as distractions from being One with God. If you want to "find your passion," then get back to God. The hole you're feeling in your life was created by this belief that we had to chase fulfillment. We've been duped into believing that our value and identity comes from jobs and paying for stuff. Yes, we need to earn income and it's ok to buy things, but we don't need to be enslaved by these things. We do need to provide for our families, but not at the expense of removing ourselves from them because of work.
The simple and short answer is this... get your spiritual practice on!
