The Energy Never Dies (Does your life energize you?)

Dearest Readers,
“Would this be something, that would energize you?” This week, the leader of the community service group I am a part of sent me an email asking me to work on a project this quarter with that question attached. What a cool concept, I thought to myself. Does the thought of this project actually energize me? Now maybe the energize stood out because I have been running on low levels of sleep and high levels of coffee this week and being energized sounds just yummy, but what an interesting way to pinpoint a common problem we all face.
For those of us who take on way too much than we can realistically handle (I know nothing about this *sarcastic wink*), this is a great question to help us prioritize. I, like many others here at OU, want to join just about everything, but what is it that actually energizes me. If it came down to me having a spare hour, would I want to spend it doing [insert task here]? Maybe so, but it is at least important to consider.
This question can also be expanded to our future careers. We are all trying to make money in this freakishly sad economic climate, but does the thought of our future career energize us? Our future lives should not be something we are resigned to, they should be something we are passionate about living! (I know gaggable, but I thought that sentence was cute even if it was a hallmark moment.) For someone who wants to be a journalist, the professionals tell me I won’t sleep at night, I’ll make no money, and I will work crazy hours, but if I love it, I should do it. To be frank (but my name’s not frank … oh lame sleep deprived jokes … bear with me people), not very reassuring. But the thought of staying up perfecting an article or calling obscure source #5, in a twisted way, excites me. Every time I leave an interview or see my byline in the paper, I get that ridiculous warm happy feeling in the pit of my stomach (you know the one, silly readers…the one that makes you feel satisfied with life for that little moment), and that to me is an impetus for my career decision. The thought of being a journalist energizes me.
Lesson to be Learned: We do so much for our resumes, for our parents, for our schools, for our future employers, that we have be reminded that what it really comes down to is our passions. Does what you do energize you? If it doesn’t, can you live with that?
Passionately yours,
Adorkable

ps. the picture is another adorkable original :)