Follow Your Passions

Often, the path to living a life you’re passionate about is built from certain single steps that many are unwilling or unable to take. There are many hurdles on the way to living our dreams, but the sad part is that most of them have been placed into existence by our minds, and thus we as individuals are the only ones ultimately capable of removing them (or at least getting around them).

You never know what taking one courageous leap of faith can do for your life. In the summer of 1999 a friend and I built a website where we were going to do all things entertainment related. Movie reviews, concert and music reviews, online comics, whatever - anything to try to seem legitimate enough to get free passes into movies and the occasional tee shirt or something. It was just a fun, goofy sort of thing we thought we’d try. I began downloading free MP3s from a website that had a bunch of emerging artists featured, and through a great deal of trial and error, I found a band I really enjoyed and wanted to review. More than that, I wanted to see if I could even get an interview. My first instinct was “What is the lead singer (who happened to also be attractive and female) going to want with a no one she has never met, I’ll never hear back.” But I took a leap of faith, and shot off an e-mail letting her know I really liked the music and wanted to interview her for the new website.

She wrote back, and agreed to an interview. Over time, we started writing back and forth and became pen pals. Soon we chatted on the phone, and by the following summer when I went out to California for a convention, we decided to meet up for coffee. I sat down with her, and we chatted for over three hours, and it was as though we had just always been the best of friends, meeting for just another of our big discussions about life and the world and our little spots in it. The next night I met her husband and the rest of her band, and hung out most of the evening chatting. The last day of the trip, I went to see them play a concert in Balboa Park in San Diego.

Now, keep following this, and remember - this all started with the decision to send that first e-mail even though I doubted I’d ever hear back. I had a feeling come over me on the drive back home to Arizona, and I shared with this new friend of mine that I felt like I was going to meet the girl I’d marry soon. A few weeks later, I did in fact meet the person I ended up marrying. You’ll think perhaps it was some sort of self-fulfilled prophecy, but I genuinely knew instinctually she was the one. I’ve been married blissfully to a woman who is a perfect compliment to me for well over five years now.

Fast forward to my final interviews for the company I currently work for (the job I am constantly inspired by and absolutely embodies the quote at the top of every page on this website). The people interviewing me consisted of some of the highest ranking individuals in the company, and I was in for a morning of meeting one-on-one with them as well as a big group presentation. This was a situation in which you certainly wouldn’t be faulted for being nervous, but I was able to remain comfortably calm. I had learned from my musician friend many years ago that rock stars, movie personalities, politicians, sports figures - all these people have in common that they are still ultimately just humans, like you and me. They have interesting jobs, but they are made of flesh and bone and have insecurities and wisdom just like everyone does.

That friend I e-mailed so many years ago for an interview is still whom I consider, outside of my wife and family, to be my best friend. I just had an hour long discussion this evening. Every time I get off the phone with her I’m inspired to do good things in life, and I have definitely learned a great deal of wisdom from her sharing her experience with me. I gained so much by that simple e-mail, that decision, that leap of faith. So when you see a chance, an opportunity, even when the odds are stacked somewhat against you or it seems like a long shot, think about what the worst that is likely to happen would be. Often, the worst is that nothing happens. The question, then, becomes “What have you got to lose?” Or the way I prefer to think of it, is to envision “What have I got to win?” The truth is, what you stand to gain from taking those little leaps of faith in life can be huge and literally catapult you to achieving your dreams.