About doing what you love

This is another post for my About Life column...

I have been thinking about all these people who do something which they do not really like. There are so many people out there who work in a certain area, who live a certain lifestyle or who are with a certain partner, just because they THINK it’s the right thing. They do not FEEL it though.

I have met a lot of people in whom I noticed that they are not 100% happy because at some point in life they took a decision just because they THOUGHT they have to make this decision, even though they did not really FEEL it. Since I talked to a lot to them (and about them), I also began reflecting increasingly about my own thoughts and feeelings. I asked myself constantly in the past months; what do I THINK is right to do and what do I FEEL is right to do. I have, like all of us, a certain background and I was raised with certain values of what is good and what is bad. In my family everyone went to university, so of course I did so too. I finished my Master’s degree and I began preparing my PHD before I noticed that maybe I only do this because I THINK that I have to do this. 

Then I stopped and I began reflecting on my feelings and my dreams. I was somehow lost for around a year, searching myself somewhere in all of the things going on in my head. Finally, I decided that it is okay to work in something where no academic degree is needed and I began to take nutrition classes (no university classes). This may seem like a small step for many of you but for me it was a really big one since I took the decision to turn my back on my academic career. 

The other day I thought about a moment in my life from when I was around 13 years old. That day I was wearing the outfit I got for my Confirmation and I was feeling really pretty in my long skirt and the blue blouse. So I said to my mother: "I cannot wait for the day where I can wear these kinds of clothes every day!" I had to think about this sentence because it suddenly became clear to me that I was always interested in fashion (from childhood on), even though I would never have told anyone (because fashion was expected to be something superficial and stupid). Because of what I THOUGHT is right to do, I always thought that it is a stupid and embarrasing thing to have a fashion and lifestyle blog but I opened it anyway, because I FELT that I would love it. So as you can guess, I was somehow inbetween all the time. 

Actually, almost none of my friends know about my blog which is really weird because it became such an important thing in my life and I really love blogging. So I guess it’s one thing to FEEL what you like to do in life and it’s another thing to actually stand behind it. I realize that the more I think about all of this, the more I am able to be okay with what I really love and to accept that I am not 100% the person I THOUGHT I have to be. I am still on a journey and I think we all are for our entire life. But the journey is so much easier when knowing that it is okay to do what you love and to accept your feelings.

Can you relate to any of this? What are your thoughts on this? Is there anything in your life you would love to do but for some reason you do not dare to? And what do you think we can do to fully stand behind the things we love, without thinking that they are wrong?

I am looking forward to read your thoughts!!!
Sending much love!