“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why”
~Mark Twain
Finding your passion isn’t just about a dream job for your career, or about being wealthy. It is about finding your authentic self. This authentic self is your life propose and the surest way to find it is to follow your passion where it leads you. When you find it and align everything in your life with it, that is when your eyes light up, and your heart sings with joy. You literally fill up your soul with light and shine brightly from within. This is your calling, given to you by the divine. It is the difference between really living and just existing.
“Always go with your passions. Never ask yourself if it is realistic or not”
~Deepak Chopra
When you are in alignment with your purpose, passion creates a calmness within the heart, so that no matter what the madness and chaos that is happening around us, we are at peace. When you embrace your authentic self, you have no competition. When you focus on your passion and fulfilling your purpose, the doors of opportunity swing wide open.
Have the courage to follow the things that you are naturally drawn to. Purpose is the reason you journey, walking the path towards insight. Passion is the fire that lights the way and keeps you going on the dark and stormy nights. I think of Jane Goodall, who has lived her whole life for monkeys. I don’t understand her passion for them, but you can see it. What I can understand is that kind of passion. I have it, for LemonadeMakers. It is your job, your responsibility to let the world know why you are here. The world needs people who have come alive with passion.
“Curiosity only does one thing, and that is to give. And what it gives you are clues on the incredible scavenger hunt of your life.”
~Elizabeth Gilbert
We find happiness by being driven by this curiosity because it causes us to ask questions that we would never think to ask. It causes us to look in strange places for answers to the questions and make connections that seem strange, yet they fit perfectly to what is happening in our lives.
It is looking in the strange places that we find clues to what we are capable of in our lives. We see how everything in our past is connected. The main path with all of the side roads winding through the woods and back to the main path served a purpose, even though we may not know what it was until years later. But each jewel we discover is required to have the complete piece of jewelry which is our life.
“One of the oldest and most generous tricks that the universe plays on human beings is to bury strange jewels within us all. And then stand back to see if we can ever find them”
~Elizabeth Gilbert
“You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage – pleasantly, smiling, non-apologetically – to say “no” to other things. And the way to do that is by having a bigger “yes” burning inside.”
~Stephen Covey
You have to peel off the masks of social conditioning that say you must meet the needs of others before your own. That what you need, desire is as important, and in fact will be fatal to your soul if you don’t pursue it. You must become what you are seeking. It needs to seep deep into your pores, become part of your cells. Live and breathe your dream.
Do you remember having a favorite article of clothing that you loved to wear? It might have been when you were a child, and you wanted to wear it every day, and your mom would argue with you to choose something different. But you only wanted to wear that particular outfit. So you would pitch a fit until she gave it, or maybe you snuck it out of the house and changed and wore it anyway. Wear your passion like that. Be a rebel.
“You’ll learn as you get older that rules are made to be broken. Be bold enough to live life on your own terms, and never ever apologize for it. Go against the grain, refuse to conform, take the road less traveled instead of the well-beaten path. Laugh in the face of adversity, and leap before you look. Dance as though everyone is watching. March to the beat of your own drummer. And stubbornly refuse to fit it”
Great perspective on making our lives fit around us instead of us forcing ourselves to fit where we don’t belong and can’t thrive. I do think we feel competition from the outside though. We may be living our passion but that doesn’t mean others aren’t too. It just means we can still be confidently content.
I agree. The wonderful thing is that because we are all unique, even if our passions are similar there is a difference. It is like those puzzles where the pieces are almost the same color, but not the exact same shade. When we live who we are without trying to force ourselves into another puzzle pieces spot we are in collaboration instead of competition.
Absolutely love this. I have always went after the things in life that I am passionate about and it has always worked out to be the right thing for me. Thank you for sharing a wonderful affirming post.