Saturday, September 13, 2008

What Are You Passionate About?

Today's world is more focused on the fast paced style that we have set for ourselves than the dreams and hopes that once fueled our aspirations. We get so very caught up in our responsibilities that the obligations and expectations of our lives makes for a more important goals than our true passions. Many people feel that if they focus on themselves they are being selfish and cutting the attention to the other aspects of their lives that they have deemed more important, thus leaving room for those inner most desires lacking.

There are several self-help articles about how to make one happier and more fulfilled. But it all starts with realizing your true passion. What motivates you? What makes you smile? Or even, when you were a child 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.

As we grow up and grow older, we often take the more traveled road to adulthood. We attend college and achieve degree status in order to obtain a "real" job. This conformation to societal ideals about living often leave the passions that once gave us fire and hope dead in the water. Women give up their dreams to raise children, men leave the their true callings behind for fear of not being what their families would hope they would become. When we leave our passions behind, who are we really becoming and is that person the true person we always wanted to be?

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.

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!

About The Author: Elliott Roberts is a writer at Becoming, a Personal Development blog, discussing ideas from Productivity to Meditation, and more. Visit Becomng, and change your life forever!

http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Are-You-Passionate-About?&id=1238995