I'll be the first to admit that I like things. Christmas has just passed and I know that I got much more than I needed. Time after time I've whined about not being able to buy things that I liked because I only had x-amount of money in my account after paying my bills. But I still understand that materials are so, so temporary. I understand that wealth comes in more than one form.

I can't explain the way my heart sinks when I hear someone praising money. I can't explain how hurt I feel when I hear things like "that job pays well, you should have taken it" or "that career won't make you rich." As if the sole purpose of sitting through classes, hours of training, the process of choosing a major, teaching yourself a skill and mastering your own stylistic work, is done only to make as much money as possible.

It's sad to me because maybe you're a music major, a self-taught photographer, a writer. Maybe you're a stay at home mother or you're in full time ministry. How often do you hear that what you’ve chosen is not a feasible path? I don't believe that passion is expendable. I don't believe that it can be washed away or should be pushed aside for the sake of money. I believe that those passions should be pursued. And if they don't produce a ton of money, that is okay. If it takes a lifetime to become successful in the eyes of your peers, that is okay. I understand that bills have to be paid, but would it really be so horrible to work your life around these things, may your income be small, so that you're able to do what you love?

We should not have to give up our moments for someone else’s comfort. So many of the people that I know and love have discouraged the things I choose to pursue without even realizing it, simply because they do not understand. They don’t understand my passion, why I would want to do something so unconventional, or the hope that I have in the things that I love. That’s okay. People may never understand it, but they don’t have to.

Maybe it's time that we begin to choose careers based on nothing other than that passion. Something that makes us excited to wake up every single day. Something that makes all of the mistakes and days of struggle worth it. Maybe it's time we stop idolizing money and we pay a little more attention to what's inside of us. It's there, in every single one. And I believe that it's our God given right to pursue the lives we so desire. It's never too late to begin doing so.

The late Chris McCandless said it better than I ever could. He wrote, “so many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism. If you want to get more out of life, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty.”

I’ve found that most of the time, our moments choose us and we just have to embrace them. You are allowed to be more than content with your life. Your passions are not expendable. Your hopes are not naïve. Your dreams are not far fetched.