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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.
The book shelves are full of self-help publications that aim at offering insight into the best ways to improve overall happiness and fulfillment in life. The heart of these techniques lies in questions we all must ask ourselves. What is your motivation? What are the things that make you smile? What did you want to be when you grew up?
The first step to finding happiness is realizing what it is that makes you want to get up and start moving in the morning. Those aspects of life that leave you whistling are the ones that hold the key to the passions of life.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 relationshipóand all the while we neglect our true needs.
The dutiful son or daughter who gives up dreams of acting to attend college and get a ìreal jobî will eventually conform to those expectations. But will he or she be happy sitting behind a desk day in and day out? The doting mother who gives up finishing her MasterÃs degree to take care of the kids will love her children with all her heart and provide them with all their needs and wants. But will she really find solace in mommy and me groups and story time at the local library? The caring husband who sets aside his hobby of collecting model trains because it is viewed as childish will eventually forget the dust covered trains in the attic. But will his passion for tinkering with the shiny trains be placated by repairing the broken dishwasher and changing the oil in his wifeÃs car? We often agree to what is expected of us and drown out the voice inside our head and hearts. But the truth isÖ you donÃt have to be irresponsible or unreasonable to fulfill your passion.
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 that passion has been rediscovered, living life as a more youthful ans passionate person will become second nature again. But, rest assured, it will be harder the second time around. Real life situations will tug at your passion strings and try to pull you away from the things that once made you so very happy. Resilience is the key to bringing that passion back into your life.
There is no amount of money in the world that can measure up to the payment your passion can provide. While the payment may not increase your checkbook or give you that promotion at work, it will give you back a sense of yourself that has been lost for a very long time.
Stop right now and think about those things that made youth so wonderful. If only for a moment, take a step back 10, 20, 30, 50 years and find that one thing that drove your mind to the limits of happiness. Once you have that thought firmly in your grasp, go for it!
Elliott Roberts, a writer with Good Plum, gives his ideas on being productive, personal development, and attaining success at www.goodplum.com.
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