What are you willing to risk to find what makes you happy?

What makes you tick? What’s your purpose?

Talk about hard questions to answer. It’s kind of sad that such an important point is so unclear. I don’t know about you, but I certainly can’t come up with an answer to those questions. I certainly wish I could. Life would be a lot easier if I had a 15, 20, 30-year plan of how I wanted my life to play out.

When people ask this question, I think it’s usually with the assumption you have an answer. They think you’re just being coy by saying you don’t know what you actually want out of life.

I’m not talking about those hobbies that give you a lot of pleasure. I love writing. Listening to and playing music. Drinking coffee. Hanging out with friends. Eating great food. Enjoying a glass of wine. I very much enjoy all of these things, but none of those things is (I hope to fucking god) my purpose in life. Everyone who knows me knows I’m obsessed with delicious, quality coffee, but I don’t get up in the morning because of coffee. (To be fair, coffee does help get me up in the morning, but that’s more of an anodyne for waking up rather than the inspiration for getting out of bed.)

I’m talking about that something greater. Not the thing that gets you through the day, but the thing that gets you through life. I don’t think it’s just me who finds this question daunting, but it’s possible most people do know what gives their life meaning. I could just be oblivious (it wouldn’t be the first time).

It’s also possible it’s easier to be ignorant about what makes you tick because once you know what that thing it; you have to start trying to achieve it. There’s really not any good excuse to not pursue what you’re truly passionate about, is there?

Having to go after what you want is pretty scary. Once you know what that something is, what should you be willing to risk to get it? Is there anything not worth giving up to find your calling? I’m not posing that in a rhetorical way to suggest you should put everything on the line. It’s an honest to god question. If you enjoy your life, your job, the people you’re with, it may be enough to be content in life. It probably depends on the person. Life’s a balancing act – you just have to make sure you have enough to make you happy.

To me, personally, though, I think it’s worth a try to figure out what you want and then go for it. Life’s short. I know that’s cliché to say, and we’re supposed to avoid those like the plague (see what I did there) in writing. But I mean that pretty honestly. Most of us don’t really get to do a lot in life that makes a difference, so isn’t it worth at least trying to make a difference in your own life?

The first step is just figuring out what it is that inspires you to get up every morning. And, trust me, that’s no easy feat.