The other week I wrote about focusing on passion over perfection. That alone is a constant battle for me especially on weekends. I seem to set impossible To Do List bars that I have no hope to reach and then spend weekend mornings in a panic wondering how I’m going to get it all done. I don’t, I can’t, I don’t think anyone could. Except maybe Martha Stewart but we know she doesn’t do it. She has a team of people who do it for her.
So when I sat down to read about September’s task in The Happiness Project, I was surprised and excited to find that this month the focus is to Pursue a Passion! I swear I didn’t read ahead. Maybe I’m just psychotic psychic. I can absolutely vouch that pursuing a passion makes you happier. You get that wind in your face, sun beaming down, skies opening up kind of feeling when doing something you love. There’s no other feeling in the world.
Unfortunately most of us don’t have time to pursue our passions with any focus or frequency. If you’re like me, you find yourself with free time and pull out your To Do List. There’s a freak out moment and then you start banging away at it with fury. By the time you come up for air, there’s no time left for passion. This month though is different. You have a task to pursue a passion. That means it’s a To Do – an official To Do command that you must do.
So what is your passion? As adults sometimes we lose sight of what our passions really are. We become responsible adults, spouses, parents, significant others, volunteers. We do things for others but then get stumped when we need to do things for us. Your first step is to figure out your passion. Do this today. Not tomorrow, but today. Preferably right now. Did you do it yet? Don’t stress over it. You can always change it later or add to your passion list. This isn’t a chore to write your passion in stone, never to change it.
The second step is to schedule at least 30 minutes each day this week devoted to your passion. You can squeeze in 30 minutes. Do 15 in the morning and 15 in the evening if you have to, but try for 30 minutes together if at all possible. I have lots of things that I’m passionate about in my head. I love cooking, digital scrapbooking, working out (duh!), and tons of other stuff. Since I already workout and cook, I’m going to work on digital scrapbooking this week. It sounds silly but I do love it.
I don’t have to have tons of supplies cluttering up the place since everything is digital. If the colors don’t work, I just recolor instead of heading to the store to buy more paper. I can move things around and stick and re-stick to my heart’s content. I have software for it. I have books all over the place about it, but I can’t remember the last time I actually created a page.
Life is too short to live without passion. That will be my passion focus this week. What are you going to pursue? What’s your passion? I’d love to hear about it. Did you already know what it was or did you have to think about it?
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