“Do What You Love; Love What You Do”
In different workshops, one of the exercises that I have done that I have found very powerful is to write my own obituary.
In writing such a summary of our own life, it becomes very clear how much it matters to us that our life meant something – to the people around us, like our family and friends – and to what we did with that life.
At the center of it all is – guess what? Love.
Steve Jobs said that, and he was right…
Although I am not in the habit of reading obituaries, I do look at them from time to time, and am always struck by how much of that deceased persons’ description has to do with what that person did, felt, experienced, contributed and…loved. Often a sentence starts off with the phrase “he loved to…”, or “her love of people, of animals, of plants”, etc. We hear of the musician who loved playing in a band; of the doctor who loved healing people, of the landscape architect who loved gardening or of the comedien who loved to make people laugh.
Some find out early in life what makes their heart sing. Others have to do a lot of probing and experimenting before they find something that motivates and fulfills them. And then, there are those that never seem to find that sense of “flow”; that passion , that feeling that they are doing what they were meant to do. But…
This idea of loving what you do, and therefore doing what you love, plays to the heart of the matter. And, it is never too late!
When we are facing retirement and that 3rd stage of life, we often re-examine what kind of role that word LOVE played in our existence. While some of us may have been lucky enough to have found just the right career, there are those that are ready to move on to something with more purpose and meaning. They are ready to hang up one hat and don another, using life’s experiences and challenges to move them into something bright and new that brings them love for that new venture, and a whole new outlook. What is it that you have always wanted to do, but never had the time before?
What would you like your obituary to say about you? And “what’s love got to do with it”? Maybe…everything!
I wish for you a union between loving and doing. If you already have that combination – great! If you don’t, what are you waiting for?
Take it from Steve Jobs, who said in his famous Commencement Address at Stanford:
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
Take care, Ingrid