Below are some of the longings I’ve heard over the years from my clients, along with some of the “buts:”

• “I’ve always wanted to create beautiful things with my hands, but I have a great job. I’m a school teacher—the benefits are great and everyone tells me I’m really good at it.”

• “I’ve always wanted to work with kids but then I got a job working at an airline.”

• “I’ve always wanted to help people connect on a soul level—but then I became an administrator and eventually CEO.”

• “I’ve always wanted to share my music with the world, but it’s too late now.”

• “When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a park ranger because I love learning about the natural world and teaching others to love it, too. Even if I could get a job as a park ranger, I can’t afford to work for that little money.”

As my clients discuss their longings with me, they usually say some version of “but it’s too late to do it now.” My answer is always the same: “If you have had a longing to be a furniture-maker (park ranger, musician…) for the last 20 (30, 40…) years, then it’s not going away. This longing will be with you all your life-unless you do something about it.”

I then go on to explain that they don’t need to blow up their lives to address this longing, they just need to start making a little room in their lives for this longing. Metaphorically, they need to scooch over a little and invite their longing to sit down next to them and stay for a while, so they can get to know it a little better.

Some of my clients do (eventually) blow up their lives—they quit jobs, go back to school, or move across the country to follow their longing.

Others start doing what they long to do one small step at a time. A client with a longing to be a musician books weekend time at a recording studio and has a great time making an album with talented friends, and then books local gigs and creates a website to promote her music as she continues to work at her day job. Another who loves working with children starts volunteering to teach kids about the local ecosystem in her free time.

Many times, smaller steps toward the longing are enough, and they bring a lot of joy into an already full life. Or the smaller steps could continue to evolve into a life where a once-ignored passion takes center stage.

Do you have a longing that hasn’t gone away, no matter how busy you’ve gotten? No matter how great (or messy, or hard) your life already is? If you do, start thinking about how you can fit it into your life, even a little bit. You will feed a part of yourself that has been starving for a long, long time. And who knows what amazing places your longing will take you?