I have a dear friend of mine who is struggling to make it through this economic downturn. We met each other almost 10 years ago when we were both working in the finance industry and became fast friends. At the time, we were both making pretty good money and often worked together on a variety of projects. Ten years later he is one of my most trusted confidantes and I’m a better person for knowing him . Unfortunately today is a different season than it was a few years ago. His business is gone, his house, car, jewelry and savings accounts are gone too. The strain has caused deep fractures within his family and wife. His marriage is hanging on by a thread. “I’m beyond rock bottom” he tells me.
I’ve had my own battles and like my friend, have often tried to make sense of it all, to find that silver lining and believe that everything is going to be ok, that it all works out in the end. It’s hard to find a silver lining when your world is completely dark. About a year ago I found myself in the same dark trance as my friend. Nothing was working, every solution I thought would work fell horribly flat and the excitement and zest that I used to have was painfully draining out of me. It was during this time of soul searching that I recalled a discussion I had with my mom when I was a boy.
My mom is an English professor who loved studying and reading about the great classical authors; Dickens, Shakespeare, Thoreau, and others. As you can imagine, there isn’t a lot of money to be made in classical literature, but that never stopped my mom from immersing herself in her love, in her passion. As I thought about her chosen occupation I recalled something that she said to me when I was just a boy “If you really love what you are doing, you would be willing to do it for free.” Those words seemed to dance with another piece of advice that was given to me a few years ago. Pursue your passion “and the money will eventually follow.” Those two thoughts gave me the courage to really uncover what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.
That advice has led me to this particular point in my life. I LOVE what we accomplish here at MediShark, LLC on a daily basis. We get to design, and produce, websites and marketing campaigns that are incredibly effective. We get to employ creative media to help other businesses grow and at the end of the day I find myself completely happy, completely content. The excitement and zest are back. Best of all, I have found some incredible people in the last year who share the same passion as I. We are really creating an exciting and dynamic company here at MediaShark, LLC and I couldn’t be happier.
I met with my friend last night and for the first time he had a little twinkle in his eyes. “I know what my passion is” he smiled. “Now I just need to put it all together.” Indeed he had. We spent the rest of the night analyzing, strategizing and brainstorming ways to make his passion a reality. I couldn’t help but notice that once the passion and the subsequent direction were defined, the rest of puzzle pieces started to fall into place quickly and easily.
If you are like my friend, and you are “beyond rock bottom” there is no better time to step away from the mayhem than right now. It can’t get a whole lot worse, right? From my experience it could be the best decision that you ever make and one that will not regret.