The Pursuit of Happiness

When we were little, most of us were told we could be anything we wanted to be. Our dreams were endless, and most of us had at least some vision of what we might like to do with our time as adults (artist, musician, astronaut, etc.). Though, as children, we were much more interested in just having fun than seriously pursuing career goals.

Fast-forward a couple of decades, and you'll find that many of us no longer believe in the mantra, "I can be anything I want to be." Life has gotten in the way, practicality has won over, the economy has gone bad, and those of us who are lucky enough to be employed right now are likely working jobs that only mildly hold our interest. This is acceptable because there are bills to pay and our childhood dreams might not have been very practical or profitable. But what if they were? What if we could still be whatever we wanted to be, just by believing in it completely and working very, very hard?

At some point during my study abroad semester in college, I started believing very strongly in the power I held as an individual. The "power of one," as some ad campaigns call it. To me, the power of one means that even though I am just one person, I have a mind, I have a voice, and I have the means to influence others. I could start a blog or viral video that gets millions of views; I could go plant seeds in my whole neighborhood and watch it bloom up the next spring; I could inspire others with anything I do. All I have to do is move, and something happens. This gave me a very powerful, and almost scary feeling. That feeling has grown to make me believe that I am capable of producing the life that I want to live, no matter what the obstacles, and lately I'm finding a lot of people who have developed the same outlook on life.

My generation, generation Y, is sometimes called the "entitlement" generation. We tend to expect our workplaces to adapt to us, not the other way around like our parents' and grandparents' generation. We job-hop, and career-hop rather than sticking to one, life-long career. Is believing and expecting that we can have the life we dream of part of that sense of entitlement? The pursuit of happiness is one of our unalienable, self-evident rights detailed in the Declaration of Independence. Family, friends, and strangers may tell me that pursuing my own dreams, especially the more unconventional ones, is totally impractical and will leave me in debt and on the streets, but they can't deny me the right to try. And I've seen the people who have tried, and succeeded -- people who started with less resources than I have, in less stable financial positions, with not nearly as much support. And even with all of my blessings, it won't be easy, but the unpredictable, difficult path that makes me happy is much more satisfying and important than the easy path that makes me miserable every day. I'm starting my mission to build up my safety net and take the leap, to refuse what's "good enough" and "pays the bills." Life is way too short to be unhappy for any reason, and there is way too much we powerful individuals can do about it to just carry on in misery.

Here are a few inspiring blogs and websites I've found lately that might get you started on your journey:

When I Grow Up Coach

Makeunder My Life

Renaissance Soul Life