Reconnect with your Passion

Passion – and knowing what yours is – is a big topic of conversation these days. The answer reveals a deep truth within yourself. You find courage and capabilities that you never knew existed before and you experience a profound sense of authenticity and appropriateness about life.

Whether you want to improve your performance in your business, as a parent, in your relationships or simply want to step into the next stage of your life, knowing and living your passion will bring you clarity, commitment, fulfillment and joy.

I was speaking to a very close and dear relative a couple of weeks ago. She has been on an all time low for some time now and the conversation ended up where I asked her about her passion. Her tired reply was “I don’t know. I wouldn’t even know where to begin to describe what my ideal life, vision or passion is. I’m completely numb”

Many people I connect with experience a similar disconnect from their sense of passion. And most of them truly think that they don’t know what their passion is? They become discontent in their business, discontent in their relationships, discontent in many aspects of their lives and they continue chasing external things in search of happiness and abundance which they seem to experience as ever-elusive.

The good news is that you can reconnect with your passion. But first, you need to know that the “disconnect” that you experience is simply another form of resistance.

We often stop putting attention on our passions early in life when our more traditional educational system or upbringing puts a child down a path on which the child has no real input.

For example if you have been taught that your passions are “okay for a hobby but not a way to make a real living” or something similar, then it is no wonder that you have disconnected yourself from your feelings of passion. It would be too painful to live with a sense of yearning to do something you believe you cannot do, so you create a story that you “don’t know what your passions are.”

I’m not saying that you do this intentionally, because I don’t believe you do. It’s simply a kind of emotional defense mechanism. If you make yourself believe that you don’t know your passions, then you don’t have to take responsibility for not living them. “If only I knew my passions”, you might say, “I could do something about it.” But in saying that, you affirm to yourself that you DON’T know your passions, and that story becomes more and more real to you until you truly believe that you don’t have anything in your life that you are passionate about.

Instead of feeling “miserable”, you have chosen to feel “numb.”

Clearly, there is no real power in feeling numb. You cannot attract anything with numb, except more numb. And too many people are going through life numb to their sense of passion, robbing themselves and others of the gift that they are to the world.

This story that you tell yourself about not knowing your passion (although it feels real to you right now), is a story that you need to be willing to give up if you want to move into a fully satisfying life. We are here to live our passions, so let’s do it!

Here are a few strategies to help you tap into your lost sense of passion:

1. What do you daydream about? When you start daydreaming; what is it about? Where is your mind going? There is a reason that your mind goes there. It is often you subconscious giving you a taste of what your life could be like.

2. If money was no issue for you at all, what would you like to do all day long? This is a question often used to help people tap into their passions. If you can truly generate the feeling of financial freedom, you clear the way for yourself to think about what you would TRULY like to do. But if you think about all this in terms of “will it make me money”, you are cheating yourself.

Do not judge your passions based on your beliefs regarding their money-making potential. First determine your passions and then will follow analyzing its potential to earn you an income. (if earning an income from what you are passionate about is your objective, that is.)

Many people I ask this question say: “Nothing! If money was no issue to me, I would just do nothing all day long” And that is a perfectly valid answer. But I would like to challenge you to visualize a day of doing absolutely nothing. Allow the visions of doing nothing to come into your mind and let them evolve naturally and you will see how they will lead you to your passion.

3. Who do you admire? What or who inspires you? If you can’t immediately tap into your own sense of passion, I invite you to think about what or who in the world inspires you…and why.

You can learn a lot about yourself by looking at how you interpret people and situations. If someone inspires you because of what they are doing, could that possibly tell you a bit about what YOU would like to do?
If something inspires you, think about what exactly about the experience, inspires you.

For example: If you are inspired by some kind of creative expression like art, music, film, or theater, what exactly about the experience is inspiring you? Just because you are inspired by art, for example, doesn’t mean that you have a destiny as an artist.

Things that inspire us are not always the things we are supposed to be or do. However, anything that evokes inspiration in us, opens a portal to the essence of who we are.

Next time you feel inspired by anything or anyone, it may be an interesting exercise to ask yourself why you are inspired. What part of yourself is being activated in this moment? What action – however large or small – do you feel called to take?
There are entire courses available to help you discover your sense of passion, but I believe that these few questions – if honestly answered – will give you very deep insight into what you are about.