Find Your Passion, Enhance Your Life
Sarah Rehfuss Bastian
Photo by Luca on Unsplash
“If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived?”(T. Alan Armstrong).
This is the question I have recently asked many friends who have shared their feelings of depression, dissatisfaction, and frustration with life. Two particularly close friends came to visit me one evening for an Innerspeak™ session. I described my belief that depression can often come when we aren’t living in harmony with our soul. My simple question ignited a spark in their souls that has helped them move from unhappiness into becoming dynamic creators of their own life. So now I pose these questions to you— Are you passionate about life? What are you passionate about? If you aren’t passionate, how can you infuse your life with more passion?
Opportunities for harvesting passion are all around us; we just have to notice and be open to them. Our souls often work on a subconscious level to bring us experiences that will continue to nurture and support our passion…if we are consciously looking for them. Sometimes the hardest part of this process, though, is recognizing and connecting with what our passions truly are. In your free time, whether you have an abundance of it or just a few moments, where do your thoughts naturally go? What is it that you think about when you aren’t worrying about the day-to-day details of life? How do you see the world? Perhaps revisiting your dreams from childhood might provide evidence of your underlying passions. Any or all of your answers to these questions can be essential clues to recognizing your passions.
My own experience with discovering passion occurred four years ago when I was expecting my third child. It was as if I had awakened one day with a brand new set of priorities and values, and I didn’t know how to fit them into the life I had previously created for myself. In retrospect, I recognize that a “shift” (as defined by Dr. Wayne Dyer in the movie The Shift) had occurred in me, and my ego struggled greatly with how the world would view me as my priorities shifted. This self-actualization was one of the most challenging times in my life, but it has been one of the most rewarding in the long run. I realized during that time that, although family is important to me, following my own passions would help me to be a better mother. Now, I set aside a special time each day to do what I enjoy most: writing. This is often a quick transfusion of passion into the rest of my day, but I’ve also watched it grow into passion about my life as a whole. When I sometimes struggle to find that time in an especially hectic day, I often envision myself as the passionate creative soul that I am writing. It’s amazing how soon afterwards the time opens up for me to follow my passion.
My passion deepened this past week after hearing an old Russian folktale about a clever maiden. I was prompted to join the maiden in the story and ask, “What is most precious to me?” My first thought was “breath and life,” but then my ego stepped in, claiming that there must be something more precious and complex than that. I contemplated this important question again and noticed that everything I came up with would not be possible if not for “breath and life.” Acknowledging this, even momentarily, made my heart sing and consciousness soar. In those few seconds I viewed the world through a different lens than I usually do. As I looked around and observed each person I was with, I felt deep gratitude and love for each individual in the small room. It brought tears to my eyes to feel such bliss and appreciation about others and life itself. This recent experience has changed my life dramatically. I’ve learned to live as if I am passionate in each moment. By honoring each task I do, I am able to perceive the part that chore plays in the passionate life I am creating.
In the past month several friends have approached me regarding their struggles with various health issues that began when their life turned down a path that led them away from their passions. In my experiences with my own health issues, I truly believe that nothing else will create a positive change as much as reigniting one’s passion for life. Certain diets and vitamins work for a while, exercise is fun for some time, holistic healing modalities may give you a boost, but did you ever notice that they don’t seem to stick? I believe this has to do with the shift that needs to be made at a soul level regarding passion in your life. The only person that can heal you is you, and the only way change is going to happen in your life is if you are the creator of it. Marianne Williamson once said:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Armstrong concludes my opening quote by encouraging everyone to “Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you.” The journey to passion is a unique, invigorating and rewarding one. So I challenge you again--Are you passionate about life? What are you passionate about? How can you infuse your life with more passion?
Opportunities for harvesting passion are all around us; we just have to notice and be open to them. Our souls often work on a subconscious level to bring us experiences that will continue to nurture and support our passion…if we are consciously looking for them. Sometimes the hardest part of this process, though, is recognizing and connecting with what our passions truly are. In your free time, whether you have an abundance of it or just a few moments, where do your thoughts naturally go? What is it that you think about when you aren’t worrying about the day-to-day details of life? How do you see the world? Perhaps revisiting your dreams from childhood might provide evidence of your underlying passions. Any or all of your answers to these questions can be essential clues to recognizing your passions.
My own experience with discovering passion occurred four years ago when I was expecting my third child. It was as if I had awakened one day with a brand new set of priorities and values, and I didn’t know how to fit them into the life I had previously created for myself. In retrospect, I recognize that a “shift” (as defined by Dr. Wayne Dyer in the movie The Shift) had occurred in me, and my ego struggled greatly with how the world would view me as my priorities shifted. This self-actualization was one of the most challenging times in my life, but it has been one of the most rewarding in the long run. I realized during that time that, although family is important to me, following my own passions would help me to be a better mother. Now, I set aside a special time each day to do what I enjoy most: writing. This is often a quick transfusion of passion into the rest of my day, but I’ve also watched it grow into passion about my life as a whole. When I sometimes struggle to find that time in an especially hectic day, I often envision myself as the passionate creative soul that I am writing. It’s amazing how soon afterwards the time opens up for me to follow my passion.
My passion deepened this past week after hearing an old Russian folktale about a clever maiden. I was prompted to join the maiden in the story and ask, “What is most precious to me?” My first thought was “breath and life,” but then my ego stepped in, claiming that there must be something more precious and complex than that. I contemplated this important question again and noticed that everything I came up with would not be possible if not for “breath and life.” Acknowledging this, even momentarily, made my heart sing and consciousness soar. In those few seconds I viewed the world through a different lens than I usually do. As I looked around and observed each person I was with, I felt deep gratitude and love for each individual in the small room. It brought tears to my eyes to feel such bliss and appreciation about others and life itself. This recent experience has changed my life dramatically. I’ve learned to live as if I am passionate in each moment. By honoring each task I do, I am able to perceive the part that chore plays in the passionate life I am creating.
In the past month several friends have approached me regarding their struggles with various health issues that began when their life turned down a path that led them away from their passions. In my experiences with my own health issues, I truly believe that nothing else will create a positive change as much as reigniting one’s passion for life. Certain diets and vitamins work for a while, exercise is fun for some time, holistic healing modalities may give you a boost, but did you ever notice that they don’t seem to stick? I believe this has to do with the shift that needs to be made at a soul level regarding passion in your life. The only person that can heal you is you, and the only way change is going to happen in your life is if you are the creator of it. Marianne Williamson once said:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Armstrong concludes my opening quote by encouraging everyone to “Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you.” The journey to passion is a unique, invigorating and rewarding one. So I challenge you again--Are you passionate about life? What are you passionate about? How can you infuse your life with more passion?
Resources
The Shift. Dir. Michael Goorjian. Perf. Dr. Wayne Dyer, Michael DeLuise, Portia de Rossi, Ed Kerr, Shannon Sturges. Hay House, Inc, 2009. DVD.
Williamson, Marianne. A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles" New York: Harper Paperbacks, 1996. Print.
First printed in Inner Vision Magazine October 2009. Reprinted here with permission from InnerVision Magazine. www.innervisionmagazine.com
The Shift. Dir. Michael Goorjian. Perf. Dr. Wayne Dyer, Michael DeLuise, Portia de Rossi, Ed Kerr, Shannon Sturges. Hay House, Inc, 2009. DVD.
Williamson, Marianne. A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles" New York: Harper Paperbacks, 1996. Print.
First printed in Inner Vision Magazine October 2009. Reprinted here with permission from InnerVision Magazine. www.innervisionmagazine.com