“Debbie Just Hit The Wall.”

-Bowling For Soup “1985”-

*This post was originally posted on December 10th, 2019 on my blog on Medium*

It was the second campus I had ever been assigned to. A program I had rebuilt to great success. And in one decision, out of my control, it was gone. No more. Finished. For me, a young, idealistic, and dashing (ok… that might be pushing it) professional, it was a stab in the heart. For someone to say, “Sorry, it’s all over,” it was a crushing blow to my purpose. I felt helpless. Lost. Frustrated.

I became listless and declared to many around me that “my idealism was dead.” I defined myself by the success I had experienced, by the lives I affected change in, and by the campus I had helped improve. But in actuality, my idealism was just bruised. So when that success was seemingly for not, my purpose seemed to become useless.

My work suffered. Relationships suffered. And as it fell apart, so did I.

However, PERSPECTIVE is everything. It took me two years, lots of struggles, and the help of friends, family, and mentors to realize the culmination of purpose did not lie in the end result. Idealism wasn’t the problem. My definition of success and who I perceived myself to be was the problem. I was seeking exterior success, which can at times be a distractor from true purpose.

In being consumed in work, I forgot that work and life should work in harmony. My happiness should not be defined by work. My work should be influenced by my happiness. Thus I began this journey to pursue life satisfaction as the driving force toward the balance I wanted to create in my own life. To be compelled to pursue life rather than to be pushed to live it.

To dance on the hood of White Snake car.

Next Week: We delve into the subject of complacency.

Continue to join me every Tuesday on this lyrical quest for balance.

Until then, Strive for Functional. Live for Idealism.

-The Functional Idealist