For the Love of Living
I enjoy dabbling in many forms of creative expression and often thrive on learning a new skill or hobby from time to time. In my excitement, I may share my newfound past time and inevitably a comment will soon follow…”You could make money doing that!”
Don’t get me wrong, it’s flattering. It’s a person’s way of telling you that they like your craft enough that they believe there is a market for it. It’s their way of giving you praise and encouragement to continue in that endeavor. But something in my spirit always deflates when I hear those words.
I’m not exactly sure why, but I suppose it communicates to me that nothing in life is worth doing unless you can make a living from it. What about doing something just because it makes you happy and makes other’s happy? Is there any value in that? I think so.
Of course, I understand the desire to get paid doing something you love, that is the dream career path for most people, I just wonder if making money always has to be your first motivation in everything you do? It seems in this world it is. Even for those who already make a decent living, they are often told the same things about their hobbies — “You could make money doing that!”. It’s almost as if we can only justify the time we spend on something by proving its economic value, even though we already live in a society where we have everything a person could want and more.
Still, I truly struggle to be motivated by monetary gain, if anything, I am even a little afraid of being a prisoner to it. Perhaps I am a fool, I don’t deny that’s a real possibility, but only choosing to do things because of its financial potential feels like a flat, gray world to me. I know full well that many of the things I pursue are unlikely to pay off in dollar bills, but emotionally and spiritually they pay off bigger and I find plenty of satisfaction in that!
Does that mean I don’t appreciate when something I’m good at does pay off financially? Of course not! It’s a wonderful surprise to receive compensation for good work, but I prefer it to be the result of my passion and not the driving force behind it. Most of what I do, I choose to do because it’s enjoyable to explore your giftings. I do it for the love of living life, because it allows me to connect with other like-minded people, and I see a benefit in pushing myself to try new things and have new experiences. These things help me grow as a person, not only because of the pleasure it brings me to obtain new skills, but also the benefit it brings other people when you share those God-given gifts. That is the true reward for me and everything else is a bonus!
“Don’t aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally.” ― David Frost
