You know the stuff that makes you happy? Now do that.

Stop putting off what makes you happy

If the past few years have taught me anything, it’s to never put off what makes me happy. Life is going to be filled with personal — and professional — challenges. It’s going to throw everything but the kitchen sink at you, leaving you popping and locking like a Gen Zer on Tik Tok to avoid the varied misfortunes it throws your way.

But in the midst of all this, lies a hidden opportunity, if we’re brave enough to aspire to it. And it’s simply this: center what (and who) makes you happy.

Reconfigure the gravitational pull of roles and responsibilities that we’ve been socialized to accept as normative. Make room for what you want to do, rather than what you’re obligated to do.

By all means, fulfill your social roles (professional and person) with integrity, compassion and empathy. But never allow them to engulf the ‘you’ that awaits to be crafted and chiseled from the obelisk of social expectations.

Take that day off work, just because. Go to your favorite coffee shop and just… people watch. Plunge into Pinterest for a soothing dose of aesthetics. Drench your ears in that soothing playlist that sets you mind adrift on steady beats.

Start that small business idea, make time to read that book you’ve downloaded, support artists, writers and activists that inspire you. Heck, why not become that artist, writer and activist. Being goal-oriented is great, but what fuels the goals? What do you feel when something inspires you enough that you set it as your goal?

Learn to identify that feeling, that mood, that state. What does it feel like to be dream-oriented? Make that the center of how you construct the ‘self’.

So here I am, making sure I center happiness, peace, tranquility, in a world that sees me simply as a ‘resource’. It’s a dicey dance, I will admit. Capitalism leaves no room for humans and their petty needs. It requires a base of resources, simplicity and a willingness to appreciate a certain level of frugality.

But right now, on this dancefloor, I have the lead, so to speak. I set the rhythm, the pace and the poise. Join me for a dance?