Following your passion

[Meadow Skipper]

what have you done to the real CF?

Seems like some cf postings might be episodic in nature. Trend analysis may be in order.

[creaky fossil]

Seems like some cf postings might be episodic in nature. Trend analysis may be in order.

Come on now. Certain Totally Core Insider Brozambique mags have assured the commentariat that it's about Rx, and on them or off them. No need to analyze anything when the experts have spoken. Besides -- I already said, I gave my login details to rideit last night, he's the one posting things today.

[bad dancer]

My advise to my kids has always been this.
" Find what you love in life and get so good at it that people will pay you to watch you or pay you you teach them how to do it."

So far it's not working but I still hold the theory to be true. For me, my passion and my job are two very different lines in on which I travel in life. I am good at my job and get paid enough to enjoy my passions in life.

[bendtheski]

Do what you're good at, and can make a living at. No one cares about your passion if you suck, and/or are broke.

[Ski to Be]

I believe that you should do what you are good at so long as you don't hate it and use all the time/ money to pursue your passions. My dad was a wall street guy and wanted me to do the same and although he was successful he always seemed stressed and not that happy and his life revolved around that . I started mowing lawns at 12 for extra cash in the 70's and in the 80's used that extra cash to fund my ski trips. 3 years into college I had a nice sized lawn mowing business and had the winters off to ski. I decided to stick with the lawn business more for the lifestyle than the money. Do I love it? No! No real intellectual stimulation and not a lot in common with my employees but I don't hate it either . But it has afforded me a fantastic lifestyle of decades of working a few hours a week and making a nice living doing honest work and get to pursue whatever personal interests I want. I probably could have worked harder and been retired early but money was never the driving force. So in a way my passion for skiing indirectly shaped my career.

[hutash]

^^^So you went contrary to Rowe's advice by following your passion to ski and found a living that let you do it.

Following your passion does not necessarily mean you have to do it and make a living. So do, most don't.

My passions have always been science and outdoor activities. I followed one into medicine, and that has afforded me a living to enjoy my other passions like skiing, climbing, biking, and once upon a time diving. Most people don't follow their passions, end up in cubical hell, and really don't have much in the way of other passions, which the once a year ski vacation for Dallas dentists clearly is not.

[Ski to Be]

^^^^ You were passionate about something that you can make a living which is nice. But you had the intelligence / talent to pursue a nice career. I guess the problem is with people that don't have much talent ,intelligence, mentors or even know what there passion is and therein lies the problem. I worry about this generation of kids that are given a generic education and being molded into cubicle workers that get moderate pay with huge higher education costs and no real guarantee that a job is out there waiting for them and that the company would drop them in a blink if the company moves a different direction.

[hutash]

All true, but that has nothing to do with passion. They are just fitting into cookie cutter paradigms of other peoples making. One way to break out of that paradigm is to follow your passion. Don't get on over price education that leads to cubical hell. Face it, most people don't like their jobs. Maybe they would have been happier if they did what they wanted and not what somebody told them.

"Following your passion" is not just about careers. In fact, it doesn't have to have anything to do with work. You don't have to have intelligence/talent to pursue a passion for science. It can just be a hobby. There are shit tons of amateur astronomers out there, many who actual contribute in the field, who aren't/can't pursue it as a career, but are passionate about it.

As for a generic education, there is nothing wrong with that, except for the cost. If it leaves you in massive debt there is a problem, but being educated is never a bad thing. You can dig ditches with an education, but without one, all you can do is dig ditches. In a perfect world, everybody should get a good liberal arts education because it teaches you to think. If you can think you can have many options. Without that ability you are pretty well stuck.