Now before you start scanning this post looking for juicy, eye-catching tidbits suggesting anything sexual, let me tell you this question has nothing to do with sex and everything to do with luck. Or is it really luck?

In a previous post I talked about being asked what it is I “do.” And, in turn, I ask others what it is they do. If I’m “lucky” I could say I was a writer or even a banker once, or better yet, an account executive and then I just “worked in advertising.”  And you? A writer too? But what if I really don’t “do” anything? I do write, but I don’t make a living from it.

I think it is inherent in all of us to gravitate to what we know we are good at.  But often times, we get stuck doing something that we  are not good at doing and we just don’t like it, and then we wish for the life we could have if we were doing what it is we’d really like to be doing .

“Just follow your passion.”  What a cliche. The directive packs a concentrated punch – pressure, pressure to know what it is, to go find, to be happy, to just be passionate. Sure, I know what I am good at, but is it my “passion” and is it what I am supposed to be “doing?”

Is it luck that I was able to quit my full time job to  give me more time to pursue my hobby, writing. Was I lucky to have gained  the skills and experience from my jobs in advertising and banking to carry me for future work? All those years gave me what I was good at.

I never, ever (note emphasis!) thought I’d work for a skilled nursing, rehab community. The thought of walking long halls guided by yellow lighting and halted with peculiar odors to meet people who are needy made me feel uncomfortable. Though I am  challenged in those surrounding part time, it has become part of what I do. Can the smallest and simplest of detail be part of your passion. Can meeting old people who open my eyes to worlds where I thought I knew of only one be part of my passion?

I don’t think it is luck.  Waking up in the morning and starting my day as a lawyer or dentist, does not equate, for me, to living my passion. My passion is in the small things, the undiscovered, the day-to-day living that poses challenges and uncomfortable feelings. I write, I sell, I draw pictures, I project manage, I communicate, I manage. It’s what I do. Maybe I did get lucky.