We’re continuing the L*O*V*E conversation. Last week, we explored Self-Love, and this week I want to take it one step further with Igniting YOUR Heart’s Passion. We tend to think of passion as the hot, sexy, romantic passion. That type of passion is great, but today, I want you to think about passion in terms of what lights up your heart and makes you feel complete, regardless of your relationship status.
In order to ignite your heart’s passion, you have to remember what it is you are passionate about. This truth can get lost in the daily grind, especially if you have children or the added responsibility of caring for an aging parent. If you are a parent and caregiver, than you know that the needs, wants, desires, and wellbeing of those in your care tend to come above your own. Your heart’s desire gets buried under the obligations that go with the job of child rearing, adult caretaking, or a big career. What is expected and required of you may not always be what you are most passionate about.
I am guilty of getting lost in both parenting and a big career and letting my desires and self-care rituals fall by the wayside. Now that my sister is ill, I find myself again in the throws of doing whatever it takes to keep Tammi well until she gets a liver transplant, but this time, I am consciously taking good care of myself as well.
I am not suggesting you neglect your loved ones, but I am suggesting you rediscover what fulfills you. When you carve out time to take care of yourself on a regular basis, you will be better equipped to take care of others. When you self nourish mentally and physically, you have the best of you to share with those you are caring for, and when you are depleted, you set yourself up for resentment.
Over a prolonged time of stuffing down your desires, you may lose sight of them altogether.
To help, here are some ideas to Ignite Your Passion
List It
Make a comprehensive list of everything that brings you joy. Include big and small pleasures (e.g. swing on a swing, eat an ice cream cone, read something silly and lighthearted) and a few you have yet to experience but would like to try (Sky Diving, anyone?). Leave this list where you can see it daily as a reminder to prioritize your pleasure! For seven days in a row, can you commit to doing one thing a day on your Pleasure To-Do List?
Try It
Do something different. Sometimes just consciously breaking out of a daily routine can ignite some passion. Try a new lunch spot, sit on the opposite site of the conference table, or try a different coffee place for your morning caffeine fix. Staying safely ensconced in your comfort zone ignites passivity, not passion. Even seemingly minor shifts in habitual behavior can create more present moment awareness. To be passionate, you must BE HERE NOW.
Acknowledge It
As part of your morning ritual, list a few things you are grateful for in the present moment. Think about the last time you felt excited about an idea, a conversation, or a new friend. Passion comes in all different shapes and sizes and acknowledging what ignites an excited passionate response in you and feeling gratitude for it will draw more passion into your life.
Allow It
We are the culprits who limit the passion in our lives by not allowing it to flow or by choosing to focus on what we don’t have. We all have a list of “should dos” a mile long but most of those will not increase joy. Yes, we have to fulfill our commitments, but if an opportunity arises for you to do something different and fun, even if you should do your laundry, say YES. (The laundry is not going anywhere.) Since joy and passion are closely related, to get in touch with passion, start saying “yes” to the pleasure-filled life you seek and start saying “no” to the people and situations that deplete you of joy.
I would love to hear your thoughts about adding these things back into your life or into your life for the first time. What do you plan to do? How you plan on doing them? Stoke the embers of your own passion!
Terri Cole, founder and CEO of Live Fearless and Free, is a licensed psychotherapist, transformation coach, and an expert at turning fear into freedom. A cornerstone of Terri’s practice, meditation, was the impetus for her recently released guided mediation CD Meditation Transformation. In Fall 2012, she will begin hosting a Hay House radio show, giving listeners who are swimming upstream easy tools to flip over and float. Terri can be found on her website, Facebook, and Twitter.
*Photo by Moh Tj.
