Finding Your Passion in Life

My friend, the Venerable Bhante Sujatha has made his life purpose to help people find their happiness. It's his passion in life. For years, I went through life just trying to make it through each day. Then I had my daughter; she became my passion and love. As with all baby birds, she grew up, went to college, and moved away. I'm not gonna lie, I felt like my purpose was gone. I did my job as a mom and it was time to let go. I cried...a lot. During this time, it was like a transition into another realm of thinking. I sat down and had a long talk with myself on what it was I wanted in life. The first thing that came to mind was happiness. Have that; I have a great job, great health, great kids, amazing and awesome husband. Didn't know what my passion was. This took awhile. As we get older, our passions and favorites change. When I was younger my passion was having fun (nothing really wrong with that), the Monkees, and my job in the military. So you can see our passions change. We never stay sentient in our lives.

 As I moved on, I realized my passion is so many things! I have passion(s)! For starters, life is a great joy and every day needs to be cherished (yes even the cold/snowy days). Family is another passion. How I love watching my children grow and become amazing adults. Love watching my granddaughters grow up. I love playing with my dog, walking her, hiking with her, and having her lay in my lap every day. My friends are a great joy and passion to me. Whether it's standing by them when they are sad or having a great meal or movie with them. But my greatest passion is yoga. I tell people it saved my life. It did. But it's more than that. Yoga gave me purpose, a calm never felt before, alignment, peace, good health, and awesome people. I've made more friends with fellow yogi's.

How do you find your own passion? Susan Biali breaks it down like this:

1. Inventory your talents - Everyone has a talent. Sometimes we think we've got nothing, but you do. If not, find something you want to learn about. Currently, I'm teaching myself how to sew. Not as easy as you think but I'm sure having fun with it. 
2. Pay attention to who makes you annoyed or jealous - That's the last thing you need in your life. Another caveat to this is pay attention to who bring drama. Remember my blog on friendship?? We talked about toxic people and how to break away.
3. Think about what you loved to do as a child - I loved tumbling and doing weird things like teaching myself how to move my toes independently. Sounds goofy right? But it sure is fun to still do it. My husband stares at my toes in wonder. Love that!
4. Notice when you lose track of time, or what you hate to stop doing - What do you love to spend hours doing? I love reading and can spend hours sitting and reading. I could do yoga until my body shakes.
5. See your passion hunt as a fun, joyful adventure - Instead of getting frustrated in trying to figure out what makes you happy, experiment with it with a smile and joy. It's not a job, it's an adventure (sorry Army...had to go there).

(source: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/prescriptions-life/201205/five-steps-finding-your-passion)

Stephen Covey said in his book The 8th Habit - "Find your voice and encourage others to find theirs." Same principle. Find your passion and encourage others to find theirs.