What are you passionate about?
June 9th, 2008 by Elliott Roberts
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Life holds us by the horns and tell us that our lives need to be run a certain way. The stresses of every day life are the ones that we give the most attention to leaving our aspirations and dreams to fall by the way side. It is our responsibilities, expectations and perceived obligations that are the reason we move in and out of our created world every day. But, there was once passion in our lives and that passion can still be reborn in our newer, more adult lifestyles.
In order to attempt a self-help method of reintroducing happiness and passion into our lives, we must first ask ourselves a few questions. What made us happy as children? What life goals did we have when we were young? What did we want to be?
Finding that thing that makes you want to get out of bed every morning, that thing that makes you whistle while you work, is the first step in finding happiness. Too often, we look outside of ourselves to find something to make our lives a little better. We seek more money, a new car or house, a better relationship-and all the while we neglect our true needs.
There are those that have given up the things they wanted most in life in order to be what they were expected to become. The woman who gave up her dream of becoming a CEO in order to raise the family. A father who put away those model trains once life got in the way because they were childish and there simply was not enough time. These were the dreams we allowed to falter because life expected something or we perceived life expected something more of us than we had time to give.
Rediscovering your passion may actually be harder than you think it should be. After lying stale in our minds for so long, those small things that once drove us often become alien in nature and need to be rekindled and reworked in order to find a place in our every day lives. The best path is to revert to your youth. Think back to what things made you most happy. Remember the passions that made you smile and the hobbies that once held such a high importance in your life and make room for those passions again.
Once you discover your passion, pursue it! For some, it may be scary to step outside of the norm and onto a path less traveled. But personal growth only happens when we extend ourselves beyond our usual boundaries. You don’t have to neglect your responsibilities to pursue your passion. It may simply be to take an art class at a local community center or you may find that you wish to switch careers and become a graphic designer. Determine what you are passionate about and then find ways to embrace it.
No amount of money or praise at work can compare to the feeling you will get from reintroducing that long lost passion back into your life. There is a euphoria that surrounds a passion, a healing nature that makes all the wrongs of the world disappear and the work entailed in making that passion a part of your aging life, is key to living a fulfilled life.
No one more moment should pass in your life without the time being taken to realize that passion that once drove your youth. Take that time back, leave the guilt at the door and reintroduce yourself to the person you always wanted to be and more. There is nothing better than reliving youth to bring back the happiness you once knew.
