Is Finding Our Passion Worth The Work 24/7?

Finding our passion is something we as adults should make a priority. Why? We all want to be happy. But being happy is a relative. It means a different thing for everybody. And if this is true then happiness is something we can achieve. But we have to know what we are searching for.

Do you know what makes you happy?

I didn’t

This picture was the spark for discovering what my life could be.

What would finding my passion really look like? And would it change anything?

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But I’m getting ahead of myself. Here is my story:

Sunday preparations

Every Sunday, usually after lunch it started. There was this stone. This heavy feeling inside my stomach.

I knew what it meant, but I ignored it.

I played with my kids, did the necessary stuff around the house and I went on a walk. Preferably all four of us. It was easier that way.

Why?

I was focused on them, not on my thoughts.

When my evening routine started, the 101 version of some popular person swore by, I felt it again. It’s been there the whole time, I just ignored it.

It picked up in intensity when I stood in front of the open closet, looking at the clothes I was about to pull out for the next day.

I lessened the dread by glancing at my sweats, my oversized tops, and soft bottoms. The clothes you just want to crawl into and never come out.

But let’s be serious. What firm would let me through the front door wearing that? So, I picked out the most formal, stiff, unimaginative outfit I could find and put it on the hanger facing the bed. I’d be looking at it several times before I fell into a restless sleep for the day.

Dreaded Monday

I woke up with dread, thinking about the day I was about to have. I’d take my time going through the morning routine. This one was more consistent over the months.

  • Get out of bed,
  • Brush my teeth,
  • Make my lunch box,
  • Put on their favorite song and
  • Crank up the volume on the radio.

At least I nailed the first part of the day.

Waking up with music and smiling faces around you. My two kids danced out of their rooms, their eyes still glued together, but with smiles on their faces. It worked on my husband too. The first one ready for school gets to pick the next song.

Works like magic every time.

But the morning bliss didn’t last. I felt my stomach constricting as I locked the front door.

Not yet I’d tell myself. I still have 20 minutes to drop the kids off at school.

But what are 20 minutes? The time passes in a blink of an eye. The next thing I knew I was outside the firm looking at the darkened windows.

Good. I’ll be the first one there.

The Workplace

At least some comfort. I hated it when all six women turned to stare at me from top to bottom before even saying good morning when I walked into the office.

I threw myself into work. There were usually about 50 emails left from Friday and all of them were urgent. I wasn’t not worried. There would be five times more when I went home.

Lunchtime couldn’t come fast enough. How fast could I walk out of the building without attracting unwanted attention, and worried faces looking around for signs of fire?

Not fast enough. 30 minutes. This was all I had. Time to see the river. No phones, no gossip, no annoying bosses, telling you there is another thing to be added to your pile. This was my time to walk alongside the water as long as I could. My headphones tun out the outside world, a new book on Audible. Glancing at the watch every couple of minutes didn’t help. I knew I’d be late getting back. Again.

Half a day to go. More office drama, more phones interrupting every three minutes, more rolling my eyes and shaking my head at how some people have time to scroll the internet for their next pair of shoes, while the rest of us are drowning in work.

Then, finally…

Going home

It was four o’clock. Ten minutes past, to make up for my lunch break. I’d close the computer, eying the rest of the emails I wasn’t able to get to. 30. That’s not so bad. I knew not to get too excited. The rest of the world was working until six. There were bound to be twice as much in the morning.

I’d step out of the building, breathing in the fresh, free air.

Until tomorrow…

Does it sound familiar?

But more importantly, was there a solution to my problem?

Something I could do to make Mondays and all the other working days more tolerable?

My mind kept repeating the same three sentences: I hope it is. It must be. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Those three sentences have been on my mind for the past six months.

What can I do? If this continues, I’ll lose it.

What can we do to replace the Monday dread with excitement?

I started exploring. Reading books. Listening to podcasts. Watching content online.

All of these people were talking about finding your passion.

But I don’t have any passion. Not that I know of… Was the first thing that came to mind. That’s where this clip opened my eyes, watching Jonny Wilkinson speak about his passion for football.

Now, I’ve never heard about this man before, and I don’t follow football either. What caught my eye was the way he was talking. There was this energy flowing from his words.

Can there be something about this?

I decided to give it a shot. What have I got to lose?

And did the hardest thing I did in a long time.

My Goal

To discover something I lost when stepping into adulthood.

The real me.

This woman who was silenced by the outside world for so long that I had to introduce myself to her again.

She was timid, frightened, shy, and most of all untrusting when I said hello.

I first saw a glimpse of her on that afternoon stroll through the woods. This time, I didn’t bring all my family. This time I was alone. I didn’t even bring my phone.

What is my passion? I asked myself. Is there something in my life I was passionate about?

No answer.

I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.

Ok, let’s try with another question.

What do we like to do?

This was a bit easier. I could name a list of things I enjoyed doing. Something that brought excitement to my face. Some of them were:

  • Writing my novel,
  • experimenting with new dishes,
  • working on my garden,
  • spending time with my children, teaching them about the world,
  • reading books, especially about food and how good it can be for you.

Was this how I would discover my passion?

It was a start.

What to do once you have your list?

For the next month, I’d devote my free time to exploring my list of ‘like to do’ things.

I didn’t focus on one particular thing, I tried them all.

  • I got up an hour before my family each day. This was the time to work on my book.
  • I hunted for new recipes online.
  • I spent an hour each day in the garden, combining the time to teach and spend the time with my kids.
  • I bought a bunch of books on healthy living that I read every night before bed.

Slowly, I started peeling off the lairs, discovering the real me.

As the weeks went by I started noticing a pattern.

I spent more time writing in the morning, taking advantage of the weekends, when my boys slept in, to double my writing time. And on the other front, I was more interested in the health aspect and how it was all interconnected with every other part of my life. I focused on health books, nutrition, and the effects it has on your body.

Soon my focus was only on those two things.

Health and writing.

Now, I could fill in the blanks in the previous picture. Somehow, I found two passions.

Finding our passion.

Finding our passion

That was it.

I felt better in the mornings. The dread of the Monday was still there but there was also excitement and expectation. What new things would I discover when I got back home?

  • My lunch walks were now dedicated to learning – listening while I walked.
  • In the mornings I emersed myself into the imaginary world that I created.

In a month, Mondays didn’t look so terrible anymore.

Each night before bed, there was one thought on my mind:

Tomorrow, I get to go to ‘my’ world again.

And I went there dressed in my comfiest clothes. That was my indulgence. That and a hot cup of tea.

The search for my passion opened up a new world for me. Fictional and real. A world I was passionate to discover.

It can be transformational for you too. Read over my story again. Remove the doubts that you have. Decide to take a chance with the prospect of a new life. Don’t take my word for it, discover it for your own.

It is that simple.

Consider any of these tips for more focus when looking for your passion

Find the time in your day to do what you love.

If you take advantage of any of the following techniques the path to finding your passion should go a lot smoother:

  • Walk in nature,
  • Sit by yourself with only your thoughts for company – this isn’t easy to do, you’ll have to practice to be able to do it for an extended period like half an hour, but it’s worth it
  • Meditate – journal every day, and write about new things you discovered that excited you
  • Exercise – fast walks, running, dancing, cycling; anything that pumps the blood through your veins quicker will do the trick. My favorite was boxing.
  • Rest – this is the most important one. You need to give your brain time and opportunity to process the new information you’ve been consuming. You can do this by sleeping the recommended amount of time
  • Have fun – we don’t give enough credit to it, but it’s a way to get your mind a rest. So have some fun.

That’s enough for now.

To answer my title question. Yes. It most certainly is worth it.

Until next week, do more of the last technique.

Ann

P.S.

You can read more about how I found my inner voice here.

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