Today I’m going to tell you a little story. It’s mostly true, except the details get smooshed together in my mind so it might be kinda made up too. But you’ll get the gist. (If you want the short version, it goes a little something like this: “Follow your dreams, already. And share a cupcake.â€)
The Cupcake Lover
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It’s based on a conversation I had with a good friend of mine, the Cupcake Lover. The Cupcake Lover has a nice job, but is secretly in love with another. Since jobs aren’t like marriages and the only thing you’ll really miss are the post-it notes and good pens, this would seem like an easy decision.
(shhh… go to the job you love)
But like bad marriages and unfulfilling jobs, security can get in the way of what we truly crave in life.
And once you realize the security isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, or isn’t worth sacrificing your happiness for, you feel better. Because in the end, peace of mind and loving the life you’re in has a value – a very real one.
This conversation came about because I was telling the Cupcake Lover just how completely head-over-heels happy I am in my New Job. It was barely four months ago that I lost my Real Job and headed out on my own. And kinda not like the whole “wish me well, it’s gonna be all peachy roses and yellow brick roads†on my own. More like the knot-in-my-stomache, sleepless nights “I’m going to lose my home and starve my child†kind of on my own. The On My OWN on my own — no fallback, no excuses, no direct deposit slipping living wages into my bank account like little fairies in the night. It is quite a thing, truly. Eyes wide open.
But I am in love. It isn’t easy. I didn’t think it would be. But it is a beautiful thing. A beautiful, freeing, empowering, top of the world kind of thing. No, not for everyone. But for those who have that nagging, aching feeling they’ve kept buried because they are afraid to leave the comfort of security, an amazing, “grass is truly greener when you make that leap†kind of thing.
The Cupcake Maker
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The Cupcake Maker is a lovely woman who has been selling lovely cupcakes from her home, but recently took the leap and opened a lovely shop. It is quite a thing to make a living on your own, but truly another to make this living $2.50 at a time. But yet, here she is. Enjoying life, and making others smile with buttercream and spice and red velvet. And that is a beautiful thing. She makes me want to drive across town and eat a cupcake every day just to support her dream (and my newfound molten chocolate lava addiction). But it isn’t practical, so I do the next best thing – I tell everyone I know about her. (psst, for the locals: LaBella Cupcake at 15208 Madison, Lakewood OH)
The Moral of the Story
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If you have a dream that is tugging at you, follow it. You just might amaze yourself.
If you see someone else with a dream, encourage them. And then tell the world. You can’t always buy a cupcake. Or a piece of artwork. We get it, really. But instead of saying you can’t have it, take a business card and give it to a friend. Forward a newsletter. Share a website. Spread the enthusiasm. It is beautifully infectious, and a wonderful gift to give someone who just got up the courage to take a leap.
Until next time,
Chris