If someone was to throw a bag full of money my way right now, I would definitely grab it with open arms.

But, there’s always a catch.

Having a significant amount of money always comes with a price. What if it means that I had to forfeit a life full of happiness?

Would it be worth it?

This leads me to a question that I have always asked myself:

What’s more important: money or happiness?

It was always a tough question for me to answer only because I realized that they both are in different respects. But, if I had to choose one, it would be…

Let me explain.

While choosing which college to go to, I first had to think about what in the world I was going to study. My first choice was to pursue the medical field and become a pediatrician. This was a dream of mine since I was five years old.

I always said,

“I wanted to help children when they were sick.”

Fast forward to when I was twelve years old.

Things started to change. Simply, I was growing up.

I slowly started to have an idea of what I wanted for myself in the future and that didn’t include becoming a pediatrician.

Even though I changed my mind about my future career choice, I didn’t let my family know.

All I could imagine was the disappointment on their faces. Their words piercing my ears and persuading me to still travel down that road.

I couldn’t face them, especially my mom.

She always had a vision of what she wanted me to become and I wanted to uphold that for her.
But, I had to follow the vision that I had for myself.

Eventually, I expressed to my mom that I wanted to pursue another career.

The confusion on her face said it all. She thought that this was a sudden change but in actuality, I was thinking about it for a while. I had to explain to her that I had a different goal in mind but would maintain the same work ethic to achieve it.

We talked for a while, both of us listening to the other, trying to understand all the valid points we were making. At the end of the conversation, we smiled. All my mom wanted was for me to be happy with the choice I had made and to live a life that’s meaningful.

So as I type this, I know exactly what I want to do with my life.

My career choice is to become a journalist.

I know, I know, many of you may not have gotten the dollar signs twinkling in your eyes. I totally get that. Maybe if I say I wanted to major in business or nursing, or computer technology, the money bags will start to appear.

Yes, those fields are known to bring in the big bucks and are usually what students decide to study in college.

While journalism may not be in that elite list for some…

“There is money to be made, if you know how to make it.” (Shout out to Professor P. for those wise words!)

Money is always there. It depends on the person and how they will use their strengths, connections, and experiences to obtain it.

Even though I’m putting in the work to make my dream a reality, doubt creeps its way in without warning.

There’s self-doubt that stems from thinking that I’m not capable of all that I want to accomplish.Then, there’s the doubt that I have in the media business, wondering if it will support me and give me all that need to live a fulfilling life.

I don’t want all that I’m doing to be in vain.

Having doubts can be the worst, especially when I’m trying to make things happen for myself but I believe that I can use doubts as my motivation. It can propel me to reach heights that I never sought possible for myself. It teaches me that while doubts may come, they don’t have to stay.

I’ve heard countless stories on T.V. from people who didn’t follow their dreams. Over the years, they fill up with regret wishing they would have. But instead, under various circumstances, they traveled down a path that they didn’t want to but had to.

I couldn’t live with that regret. I would wake up every day, wishing that I would have followed my dreams. Even worse would be seeing someone else living the dream that I wanted for myself.

So while I have this opportunity to be in college and study what I would like, I’m willing to take this gamble. To do something that I love but may not make a lot of money for it.

So please still show me the money, but I would like to have a smiley face painted on the bag.