If You Can’t Be With the Job You Love, Love the Job You’re With

I think there are a lot of us artistic, creative, holistic, or spiritually-minded folks who haven’t figured out a way to make a living from doing the things we are most passionate about.  For instance, I’m a Reiki teacher and artist, but I earn most of my income from writing and consulting.  For a good part of this year, I’ve felt disappointed with myself for not being able to grow my Reiki practice into a significant business.   I read a wonderful book years ago by Marsha Sinetar, titled Do What You Love; The Money Will Follow.  In my case, the money isn’t following very closely.  Meanwhile, I have bills to pay and a life to live.

So I’ve finally decided to stop feeling bad that I’m not a full time Reiki teacher and/or artist.  I’ve given myself permission to enjoy my day job.  Here are five ideas that I have adopted to change my attitude about my current job situation. 

 1.  Things happen for a reason.

If I really trust God, or Spirit, or a Higher Source, then it’s likely that I am doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing at this time in my life.  So maybe it’s not my time to be a full time Reiki teacher..or artist.. or...  Maybe there is something that I’m meant to accomplish by doing what I’m doing right now.

 2.   I’m grateful that I have work.

Lots of people don’t have a job and can’t find work.  Many people who are employed make less money than I do, or have really boring jobs, like being a toll collector.  So I’m really lucky compared to many others.

 3.   If I spent all my time doing my dream job, I might not love it as much as I think.

It’s easy to create a fantasy about how wonderful my life would be, if only I could do only what I think I want to do.  I can think of three wonderful jobs in my past that lost their luster after a few years. 

 4.   I can reconnect with what I loved about my day job when it was my new job. 

When I first started writing professionally, I loved that I could “see” the results of my work when a piece was finished.  I loved the challenge of expressing something in a way that others could understand.  As a new consultant, I really enjoyed helping people solve their business problems.  Wait…I think I still love all those things.

 5.   I can bring what I love about my dream job into my day job.

Today I’m busy thinking about how to be more creative in my approach to writing.  I’ve also recently begun using some exercises from Reiki energy healing in my consulting work with managers.  Maybe I can help change the typical business culture to better appreciate the value of mind/body/spirit approaches.

If you too are feeling frustrated that you can’t afford to fund a different life or career, maybe you can experiment with some rethinking of your own.  I’d love to hear your thoughts.