ARE YOU DOING WHAT YOU LOVE?
I wish I could write as if I am someone who has spent ten years doing a job I did not like. I wish I could be telling you how I hated my job for eight years but just kept going until some epiphany happened that made me decide to finally follow my passion... But that is really not my story. At all.
During my N.Y.S.C. year I spent weeks praying and fasting to know God's direction for my life and I did garner revelations about my calling. So I came back to Lagos with the aim of starting my dance business. Things did not go so well at all. I dropped proposals upon proposals at different schools - I actually went as far as going online to get lists of schools within Ikeja environs and writing them proposals to run Dance clubs for their pupils. It was like an epic fail! No one called back, no one responded. I was crushed. I did not understand why I was hitting brick walls. Wasn't I clear about what I was to do with my life?
In June 2010, I accepted a job offer to work for a friend of my mum's friend. I had absolutely no pleasure in taking the job but I did. First day I went to see the business owner, I told her that I would not stay long because I was going to teach Dance. She did not mind. Looking back now, it was certainly God's plan. I learnt so much about administration from my then-boss, Mrs. Modupe Fagbemi, and she played a vital role in transforming my general outlook. I worked with her until end of January 2012, then I set out fully to embark on my Dance business journey.
The past six years for me business-wise, has been a huge learning curve. It has had so many UPS and DOWNS. I have cried, I have laughed, I've been joyful, I've been depressed, but through it all I have been doing what I love! If you are stuck in an occupation you have no passion for, you cannot really understand the joy of doing what you really love. It would be like you are cheating yourself intentionally or unintentionally. What passion for your work does for you is that it gives you a reason to rejoice. Things may not be going smoothly, you may still be in financial constraint - with bills piling up endlessly - but somewhere in your heart you would find the joy from being within your 'Happy Zone'!
I have had a young lady talk to me about what she really wants to do but she just does not have the courage. She currently works as a receptionist but loves to cook but she just allows fear to cripple her from trying. Fear of the unknown... Sigh. Thing is, I actually feel it is a lot more fearful to be stuck doing a job just for a job sake, than taking that bold step to do what gives you fulfillment. I am not saying everyone must become an entrepreneur. I am saying making the move to be in a space where you are doing what comes naturally to you and what gives you joy, would eventually be a risk worth taking.
Sister, brother, are you doing what you love? Or you are barely doing what is available and refusing to make strategic plans to leave? How long do you want to be stuck with a passion that never gets the privilege of expression? You have just this life to live, give yourself the opportunity to enjoy it!
During my N.Y.S.C. year I spent weeks praying and fasting to know God's direction for my life and I did garner revelations about my calling. So I came back to Lagos with the aim of starting my dance business. Things did not go so well at all. I dropped proposals upon proposals at different schools - I actually went as far as going online to get lists of schools within Ikeja environs and writing them proposals to run Dance clubs for their pupils. It was like an epic fail! No one called back, no one responded. I was crushed. I did not understand why I was hitting brick walls. Wasn't I clear about what I was to do with my life?
In June 2010, I accepted a job offer to work for a friend of my mum's friend. I had absolutely no pleasure in taking the job but I did. First day I went to see the business owner, I told her that I would not stay long because I was going to teach Dance. She did not mind. Looking back now, it was certainly God's plan. I learnt so much about administration from my then-boss, Mrs. Modupe Fagbemi, and she played a vital role in transforming my general outlook. I worked with her until end of January 2012, then I set out fully to embark on my Dance business journey.
The past six years for me business-wise, has been a huge learning curve. It has had so many UPS and DOWNS. I have cried, I have laughed, I've been joyful, I've been depressed, but through it all I have been doing what I love! If you are stuck in an occupation you have no passion for, you cannot really understand the joy of doing what you really love. It would be like you are cheating yourself intentionally or unintentionally. What passion for your work does for you is that it gives you a reason to rejoice. Things may not be going smoothly, you may still be in financial constraint - with bills piling up endlessly - but somewhere in your heart you would find the joy from being within your 'Happy Zone'!
I have had a young lady talk to me about what she really wants to do but she just does not have the courage. She currently works as a receptionist but loves to cook but she just allows fear to cripple her from trying. Fear of the unknown... Sigh. Thing is, I actually feel it is a lot more fearful to be stuck doing a job just for a job sake, than taking that bold step to do what gives you fulfillment. I am not saying everyone must become an entrepreneur. I am saying making the move to be in a space where you are doing what comes naturally to you and what gives you joy, would eventually be a risk worth taking.
Sister, brother, are you doing what you love? Or you are barely doing what is available and refusing to make strategic plans to leave? How long do you want to be stuck with a passion that never gets the privilege of expression? You have just this life to live, give yourself the opportunity to enjoy it!
Tamara Ajasa,
DanceMusicologyConcepts, 2018.
Comments
Post a Comment