Should I quit my stable but somewhat mind numbingly boring day job to start my own business? It was hard enough trying to secure my current job, and I am privileged to be in a position to have a steady income (with benefits), but it’s been a while now, and I constantly feel as though my soul is being slowly chipped away and am worried that by the time I have saved up enough I won’t have any left to put into something that really matters to me.
Hello, Person With a Good Job! It might be a good idea for you to stop thinking of yourself as a mere vessel that houses a ‘soul’. And don’t you think a soul would be more of a viscous liquidy blob rather than a rock-like substance that could be so easily chipped away? If the soul exists, it must be a very powerful entity, seeing as it has remained hidden from us for so long. Such an amazing entity must also be quite resilient, and that makes it difficult to believe that its integrity would be compromised by something so petty as a day job — especially a day job with benefits!
Between religion, philosophy, science, and everyone else in the world, the concept of the soul varies so much that it’s not worth trying to figure out. But if there is one that that most soul theories agree upon, its that once a human’s body ceases to function, the freeloading blob is taking off and not looking back.
Just like my dad.
So, forget about your soul, Person with a Job, and focus on yourself (some would call that your soul, too! We’ve got a real hedge maze here). You want to work a job that you like, so figure out what job that is and start looking for it. It sounds so simple, but a lot of people don’t have that luxury — so stop crying the blues all day and be happy you don’t have five kids running around asking for cookies and forgetting all the sacrifices you made to give them a happy life. Spend a few hours a week brainstorming or looking up night classes that interest you, which are incredibly helpful and look really good on a resume.
Any motivational speaker or life guru would tell you “It’s never too late to start living your life!” They all say that, don’t they? Kind of makes you wonder why there is more than one in the world. Kind of makes you wonder why I’m not one. Hmm….
“How’s everyone doing today? Good? Great! How about we all give ourselves a round of applause! Why? Because we deserve it! Now, I want to ask you a question: are you achieving what you want to achieve? Some of you will say yes, others will say no, and those of you in the middle might be shrugging and asking yourselves why you are here. I’ll tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you want to change something. Some of you may not have figured out what it is you want to change, but there’s something there; you can feel it sometimes at night, maybe in a twitch of a toe or an itch on the back. Oh, I know, you’re saying to yourself, ‘But how can I change my life? I’m pathetic, a loser, I’m nothing!” Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s never too late to start living your life!”
“You. Yes you, stand up. Don’t be shy, now, we’re all here to learn something. Okay, what is your name? Gerry? Where are you from, Gerry? New Brunswick! Here we have Gerry from New Brunswick, folks. Gerry, I want you to take a look in this mirror and tell me what you see. A sad man, you say? Well, Gerry, it’s never too late to start living your life! Have a seat, pal. If there’s one thing I want you all to take away from this seminar, it’s that it’s never too late to start living your life!”
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Kirk Heron is Toronto Standard‘s advice columnist. Follow him on Twitter at @ohnowhattodo.
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