Becoming One With Your Passions: How To Open Up And Make Your Dreams A Reality
Figuring out what you want to do with your life isn't easy for most people. In interviews with successful individuals, we are told time and time again that in order for us to achieve our own success, we must have a passion and understand how to use it effectively.
Understanding what your passion is, is as crucial as knowing how to discover and use it.
What is passion?
The word "passion" is derived from Latin word "pati," which means to suffer. It can also be associated with the Latin term "passio," which was used to describe the religious martyrs who were tortured and killed for their beliefs.
In English, passion is defined as a strong or powerful feeling, desire or emotion that produces devotion and moments where one can act irrational and display signs of obsession and commitment.
The origin of the word exemplifies two things: the strong association between our emotions and will power, and the understanding that the lack of use of our passions can lead to a life of confusion.
True passion produces a need to use it, and when a person is unable to channel his or her passion, he or she becomes frustrated and confused. Not many of us are born knowing what our passion is immediately; therefore, you must take the time to get to know yourself so you can recognize what you are truly interested in. Once you figure that out, you can make the effort to build on that interest and let the passion grow.
When we are unable to identify our true passion, it is often due to distractions. We generally focus on the aspects of our lives that are dedicated to meeting short-term goals, like having a steady income, paying bills or hanging out with friends.
Your passion must connect with a strategy, something that not only connects to your own needs and interests, but engages even further with a larger audience and touches the lives of many people.
When you are caught up with thoughts of only yourself, you cannot see past that. You do not allow yourself the time and growth needed to organize your thoughts and develop your passion.
How to use your passion:
It is not enough to just have passion, you must have a strategy to move it forward. In life we will consistently lose what we don't need so we can make room for what is necessary.
You should never feel like you are wasting time because even if what you begin with does not immediately lead you to your final goal, it will lead you to another piece of the puzzle.
What’s important is that you remain consistent in your relationship with your passion. Engage in it, feed it and allow it to flourish.
What if it doesn’t work out the way you planned?
You will come into many moments when you feel like you are being attacked, or things are not working out like you wanted. With every issue, there is always an outcome that will push you into a next level of your life -- even if it seems bad at the time.
You cannot remain indifferent and try to avoid the difficult circumstances.
Remember that timing is everything; how and when you pursue your passion creates a different outcome according to the timing of it all. There will always be a new lesson, which in turn, becomes a chance for you to learn and move forward (new level). Think of the setback or issue as paying your dues to turn your passion into a dream and your dream a reality.
It is time we think of our passions as something essential to our survival. Allow your passion to motivate you to do things that are unimaginable and push you to excel far beyond your dreams.
A few easy steps to keep in mind:
1. Get to know yourself. Take some quiet time, do little things you are interested in and remember you must get to know yourself before you can discover your passions.
2. Write a list of five things you love doing or are interested in and research them.
3. Find a few places to volunteer or intern at (even if it is for a week or a weekend) and try out each interest.
4. Narrow down your list; if you still can't find that thing that creates a spark in you, keep trying until you find something that does.
5. When you do find it, practice it! Put it to use, pursue it and create your process and the rest will fall into place!
Photo credit: Warner Bros.
