Why do you get up in the mornings? Life can feel drudging if there’s no reason to wake up morning after morning. You need a purpose. Perhaps you have kids, a mortgage to pay, or a dream to realize. I’ve gone through plenty of meaningless and dull seasons of life. During those times, no person, thing, or activity, not even myself, had been giving me a strong desire to live fully, love deeply, or work diligently. As I grew into adulthood, I started understanding that in order to fight boredom and depression, I have to find that reason “why” to fully engage in a life well-lived. For me, it would have to be a dream for the future.

I sat down and wrote down a long list of about 100 ideas for life goals. They included adopting kids, doing missions trips, running half-marathons, getting married, learning lyrical dance, becoming fluent in a second language, and performing piano in coffee shops or parties and weddings. One of the most exciting ideas to me was the piano vision. I had always dreamed of being like a pianist jukebox.

Why do I get up every morning? I have more than one reason. I am married to a wonderful, handsome and loving man. We laugh together, cry together, and dream together. He encourages me to choose joy, and he supports me in my dream. The best part is that he keeps me calm, focused, and in balance! Together, we dream of being loving parents in the future.

Other than the family and piano dreams, I’ve discovered my passion along the way. That is my piano students. I started teaching piano in 2013 with a couple students on the side, while I was teaching special ed at a charter middle school. After so many years of searching for my career passion, I found it and went full-time into private piano teaching before 2016 came around.  My students all have such different strengths, personalities and needs. Each one of them gives me a unique reason to be my “favorite.” In hard times and good times, I always appreciate the time with my students, because they push me to be better so that I can be in a better position to foster their piano learning. I cannot imagine any other career than playing piano and teaching private lessons.

What’s your “why”?