Reinforcing the Benefits of Change and Persistence

We talk, on this Web site, about taking leaps of faith to follow passions; about how changing course or charting your own course, while not always comfortable, can make a far more happy and fulfilling life path possible. We also talk about the challenges of that type of journey, and how most adventures, entrepreneurial ventures, and other worthy endeavors are generally tougher than we initially think they’re going to be. If you want to summit, you’ve got to really want the mountain, and be tough enough to stick with the climb.
So an article on CNN’s Web site yesterday about people discovering happier career paths after getting laid off, doesn’t come as a surprise to us. Nor does this article, from Sunday’s New York Times, about a start-up company with a really good idea that is still struggling, four years into the effort. 
The points aren’t new. But the CNN article offers additional evidence on the positive value of trying something different—even if impetus for the change is involuntary. And the Times piece offers a bit of encouragement for anyone who’s trying to start something new and is finding the going rougher than they anticipated. Even good entrepreneurs, with really good ideas, struggle to find the sunlight.
But the common thread in both the articles, aside from the discomfort involved in the process of creation and change, points—once again—to why all that discomfort is worth it. The people interviewed for the CNN piece are less financially secure than they were. One 42-year-old man, who gave up college to become a sales person for an auto supplier and was recently laid off by GM, is now working as an unpaid intern (and is the oldest intern) in the Lansing, MI Mayor’s office, and working to complete his bachelor’s degree. And yes, he has a family to support. But he’s happy. His former career fed only his pocketbook. His current ventures feed his heart and soul—and even put some of his previous job skills to far more rewarding use. 
Likewise, the employees of  GreenPrint, a company that designed software to eliminate all the wasted, blank print pages at the ends of emails and downloads, seem passionately enthusiastic about what they’re doing. They’re working their tails off trying to find a way around all the obstacles they’ve encountered, and learning lots of lessons the hard way. But they believe in the product, and are determined to try to make it work. There’s something incredibly invigorating about that kind of group challenge and buy-in—one not always found in a more established, routine business operation.
Again, not blazingly new insights, in either case. But it’s always nice to be reminded that even if we don’t know each other personally, we’re not alone. Even when we’re engaged in the eminently personal journeys of following passions, surviving times of uncertainty, or reinventing our lives.