HJ: One of the primary keys to a happy, fulfilled, abundant life is discovering your passions and giving them to the world with all of your heart. Yes, there are other reasons why you are here in this life. However, this is your primary objective. To do it and to do it well. To do it with love and compassion and joy and all the other spiritual values we all hold so dear.
Because living your passions is the path in life that will allow you the greatest growth in consciousness and the greatest spiritual growth possible for you to achieve in this lifetime. The only guideline is to live your passions to the best of your ability in any given moment. Things out of your control may take your life down a different path than you had anticipated but no matter what you are doing, no matter what situation you find yourself in, if you simply live your passion and follow your greatest excitement, you can do no wrong.
And, in fact, as regular readers of the Healers Journal will know, there is no right or wrong. These are inherently subjective judgements of inherently objective phenomena. They are cultural beliefs and standards we have been raised to accept. And yes, generally speaking, they help us to live more consciously and ethically, but not always. And that is the danger in viewing things as right or wrong. Sometimes it helps us live more spiritually, other times it severely limits us and causes to experience highly detrimental emotions like guilt and regret.
In this case, we use wrong as a way to explain a path that is not your highest potential in a given moment. But it is not a judgement call, it is more of a clarification between fast and slow, metaphorically speaking. For even when you are not living your passions, you are still learning and growing, just in different ways.
And, if there is no such thing as right and wrong, then that means everything is perfect just as it is. So no matter what you are doing, love it and love yourself, because it was absolutely meant to be. Perfect just as it is.
– Truth
Allow Yourself to Dream. A Simple Guide to Exploring Your Desires
By Manal Ghosain | One With Now
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One of the most common issues with adults is that they don’t know what they want, or what they’re passionate about. It is hard to think and dig deep in search of true joy and fulfillment while being dragged down by daily demands and social expectations.
I believe most people have had dreams at some point in their lives. They either gave up or daily living caught them by surprise. I am one of those many. I had a million and one excuses for not thinking about what I desired and went through the motions of what was expected of me.
I kept thinking that I don’t know what I want. In reality we all have desires and ambitions. Growth is a natural part of life.
Don’t think for a second that you don’t have any desires to experience joy and growth. Have you heard of a child who couldn’t imagine or didn’t know what she wanted for Christmas?
Every minute of every day is Christmas for all of us. All we have to do is know what to ask for.
“The key that unlocks energy is desire. It’s also the key to a long and interesting life. If we expect to create any drive, any real force within ourselves, we have to get excited.” ~Earl Nightingale
Just start.
To get going, I started with a list of what I would like to be, have and do. To be honest, I wasn’t sure about what I put on that list. But it was a good starting point. I don’t have absolute clarity about where my life is heading. But I have a few things I’m quite clear about. I would rather focus on what I desire instead of self sabotage and escapism.
People sometimes confuse finding out their true passion with choosing the ONE purpose of their life. So they stop looking because they don’t know what their purpose is. Some people have clarity about the purpose of their lives and many others don’t. But that doesn’t mean you should stop dreaming and growing. It doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun and do what you enjoy doing. Allow yourself to explore and change direction if need be.
Regardless of your age or where you are at, you are where you need to be at this moment. If you’re reading this, it might be time for you to think about what you desire in your life.
Questions of the heart
The questions below might be useful. There is no right or wrong answer. You don’t have to answer all of them. Just pick the ones that feel good to you and write what comes to you without second guessing. You can refine your findings later.
- What do you normally enjoy doing and lose yourself in doing?
- Who are the people you admire the most and why do you admire them?
- What types of books and magazines, blogs do you read on a regular basis?
- What ideas and places inspire you?
- What are you good at that comes naturally and easily to you?
- What would you do if you knew absolutely you couldn’t fail?
- If you have all the money in the world and your financial future is secure, what would you do every day of your life? What would you be willing to do for free?
- When your journey is over what would you like to be remembered for? What legacy do you want to leave behind?
- As a child, what were the most fun things you did? What did you imagine you would do when you grow up?
- What do you most often give to others?
- What do others look to you for?
- What are you most often complimented on?
- What do the people closest to you say you’re passionate about?
Give yourself enough time to answer these questions. Dig deep and don’t doubt what you write down. Be audacious and write down your wildest dreams and desires.
Answering some or all of these questions will give you an idea about what’s important to you, what you enjoy doing and what you can be.
Go through a mindless review.
Once you have the answers, go through them and highlight what feels right to you now. Go with your feeling; get out of your head.
Write down the items that you highlighted on one list.
Read one item on the list and then close your eyes and imagine what it would feel like if this was present in your life at this moment. Does it excite you? Does it scare you? Does it make you want to start doing something?
Details and more details
For each item you wrote down start a new page and write about it in as much detail as you can. This exercise will help you get a clear picture. For example, if you want to write a book, write all the details you can think of: topic, an outline of concepts and ideas, number of pages, what best seller list it’s going to be on …etc. Clarity will motivate you to move forward.
The WHY behind the WHAT
After writing your list of what you desire, write down why you want these items to manifest in your life. Be as honest with yourself as you can. This can be tricky as sometimes the need for validation or what others think can influence some of what you write down.
Be true to who you are.
Don’t confuse your truth with if’s and but’s and other mind made limitations about what is possible. It is not your job to worry about HOW these things are going to manifest. Also don’t just think of your limited resources or if what you desire will make money.
The point right now is to know that your desires are clear and reflect your true nature. It is about fulfillment and joy. Trust and the money will come.
Think about it. Live it.
Once you have your list of things you would like to be, do and have, read it and reflect upon it.
Visualize your heart’s desires manifesting in your life. How does it feel? Capture that feeling and live it. Act as if your desires have ALREADY become part of your life.
If your mind wanders during the day into its old habitual negative thoughts, try gently to focus your thoughts onto things you desire. If you are going to imagine and think about stuff, why not make it about something that inspires you?
The items on your list are not set in stone. They will change over time but they are a good starting point for having a direction to move forward.
Fake it till you make it.
If you are still confused about what you desire, pretend that you know and pick the things you think you would like to be, have and do.
Keep your thoughts and emotions in check. You might be standing in your own way with doubts and negative self talk.
Anything that brings you joy is something worth pursing until it’s not fun anymore. It’s really that simple.
Other articles and resources you might find useful:
Steve Pavlina: How to discover your life purpose in about 20 minutes.
Zen Habits: The short but powerful guide to finding your passion.
Illuminated Mind: 7 Keys to discovering your passion.
