**As I start this blog I want to give a disclaimer** This may rub you the wrong way. It is not intended to do so. This post is more like a warning if you have the privilege of “doing” what you love. I am not writing this to you or about you. This is simply a thought that I have been chewing on. We have a great team at Lifepoint and this is not a cheap shot toward any of them.
I have said for sometime now that one of the worst things that can happen to a person is to get paid to do what they love. At first that statement sounds absurd but I would disagree. I see this in all arenas of life. What once began as a passion can quickly become a paycheck.
I believe this is why people would rather watch college sports than professional sports. As long as a person is still trying to get “there” they play with passion. Once they have gotten “there” the passion fades and the focus shifts to a paycheck. How much do I get? How much should I get? How much can I get? How much is everyone else getting?
What is amazing to me is that the same person who once practiced their butt off and sacrificed everything to make the team will quickly shift to doing less to stay on it. The passion fades as the paycheck becomes a reality. It is inevitable…but not necessary.
Is there something that you used to do because it was a passion of yours? What about that thing that you did and didn’t get paid for? What about that time that you said you just want to be apart of the team? I’ve found that the same person that made that statement is the same person that walks away from the team because there is no paycheck or perhaps the paycheck isn’t big enough. They’ve traded passion for a paycheck.
Question: If there was no paycheck would you still do what you do?
interesting post. I will throw my .02 in. I would say that if someone loses their passion after they have gotten paid for it, then it really wasn’t their passion to begin with. Money is their passion and their ‘talent’ i.e. ‘passion’, etc. was only a means in which to fulfill their true passion (money, greed, fame, etc.) I can think of plenty of examples (in the realm of the arts, sorry I am not much of a Pro Sports guy) in life where the opposite is true….where getting paid to do what they loved freed them up to take it to new level.
The father of my dad’s best friend was an amazing fisherman. He may have been one of the best bass fisherman to ever walk the face of the earth. His day job was oiling the machinery at a paper mill. Every day, he went to work, picked up his oil can and walked the plant lubricating all the moving parts.
One day, my someone asked him why he didn’t join the pro bass tour. He could have made a very lucrative career doing what he loved. He answered (paraphrase) “Why would I want to mess up what I love. If I get paid, it becomes work.”
I think this happens to many people. When the paycheck becomes the focus, the passion wanes. I’ve seen it happen too many times in ministry. People who once volunteered at every opportunity lose that passion once it becomes their job. Maybe it is because the volunteers we serve alongside see their service as an outlet away from their job. We, on the other hand, volunteer at the same place we work.
I would rather greet at Wal-Mart and be passionate about serving God, my church and our city than to be a professional minister with no fire.
I would yes. But I would have to get a job so probably not full time. Or my wife would most likely leave me for a pastor that actually made money.
Great discussion.
I somehow found your staff blog circle and am stalking you guys tonight.
Carlos