My Day Job vs. My Passion

When your day job is not your passion, giving it your best takes discipline, commitment and focus, while your passion simply requires focus and time. It's not far from the truth to tell you that the money probably lies in things you aren't interested in.

Admittedly I am not occupationally adventurous. Professionally speaking, I have been at the same day job for 20 years. Part of me feels proud to have the stability and longevity in my employment, but most of me feels irrevocably adrift.
Don't get me wrong, in many ways I love my job. The people here are great, it's close to home, I'm treated like family and have settled into a comfort zone that makes going to work daily virtually stress free.
I have a great office. A large window taking up an entire wall of my office baits me with views of beautiful days that I can only appreciate from my chair. I suppose I have freedom in my job. I can go to the kitchen for a drink anytime I like. Then there's those exciting jaunts to the photocopier daily which provides a well needed change of scenery. Occasionally I'll venture 3 steps out the front door to grab the mail. Once in a while I'll snag the pleasure of opening the warehouse door to accept a delivery. And then there's the days when I acquire true variety in my job and clean the inside of the microwave and the espresso machine. Good times.
Oh.. in between all this lavishness I manage to run an office and oversee (to some degree) management of our 4 branch offices. Is this where I thought I'd be at 40somethingorother? Unquestionably not.
As for my passion, I can best describe my passion as pretty much anything other than being an Office Manager. Sitting behind a desk in the same chair day after day succumbing to 'Secretary's Spread' wasn't in my top 5 aspirations.
Oh, I could beat myself up about not pursuing a creative avenue after high school, (and I have, many times). But I suppose I should concentrate on how to pursue my passion in the present.
I've often thought of buying houses, renovating then selling them. But that takes money. I have, in the past, channeled my creativity in many different outlets. If I had to pick one thing to aspire to, I believe that would prove to be a difficult decision, but one I would gladly make. Thankfully I have been able to dabble in all of my passions in my spare time.
I guess what it comes down to is Pay vs. Passion. The feat for many of us is how to balance the love of our life with food on the table. The trick is in the timing. I believe the time to make the choice between passion and practicality is right after graduation. Granted, I'm a 'couple' of years past graduation, but it's never too late.
I'm going to hold on to that thought.
As adults we don't stop enough and think about where we are going. We're sometimes too busy thinking about our family, our current job and our businesses.
Obligations prevent me from taking the big plunge, but it doesn't mean I cant splash around in the shallow end in the meantime!