Let’s talk passion today! Ole!
First and foremost, your passion in life does not equal your mission.
You can be passionate of so many things at the same time. For instance, I’m passionate about sports, I even went “to school” got trained as a Personal Trainer, then I trained for a marathon, then for another one and so on but that does not mean my mission in life is sports. Of course I love what sports can do for you: great energy, you feel empowered, you look great and nonetheless you get to eat whatever you want (most of the times, at least!).
I’m passionate about the art of telling stories and/ or public speaking. Because I know and I’ve witnessed the power of it. Getting people inspired and most importantly getting people to take action as an in-direct result of sharing your story – this is fantastic! That’s why I spent so many years in learning & development. Witnessing change, being the change agent, facilitating change through the work one does I think it’s one of the most fulfilling things for me.
Nutrition/ getting good habits is another topic I’m going crazy over it. Because just like storytelling this “tiny” habit can make or brake anything. You can be brilliant at what you do, but without eating healthy & balanced and mostly without LISTENING!!! to your own body you won’t get very far. This physical body we’re in it’s our home here on this Earth, think of it like its your very own car: you get to travel anywhere you want to go but unless your car is properly cared for, your oil is changed, your tires are pumped and you have a full tank you won’t get very far. We only realize the importance of all this sadly and mostly when some parts of the engine are starting to choke and need fixing. Ouch! Many of us need a “wake up call” and some of us have been getting a more or less gentle one depending on our circumstances. So yeah, nutrition matters! No body, nobody does the work. Pun intended.
So drink that glass of water, throw in a handful of nuts and reach for a banana instead of sweets.
Cooking is pretty obvious. But for me it’s mostly about getting to transform and create things on a very physical and visual way. You get a bunch of “stuff” and out of this pile of boxes and fresh goodies just like flipping a magic wand some time later they all blend into an amazing dish. Taaa-da! And then you get to eat it. And it tastes delicious. It’s a feast for the eyes and a delight for your taste buds. And to think of it it was just a bunch of apparently non-related things sitting on your kitchen counter. Wow!
Another big one is building a circle of people who support you and who CARE for your well-being. Whatever you want to achieve, to be-do-have, anything in THIS world revolves around who you know and who knows you. Now I’m not talking about the old “go to an event, get as many cards as possible and hand out your own” networking “strategy”. I am talking about approaching differently the people you meet in all walks of your life (be it at work or in your own time).
Admit it, when you were a kid things were easy: you just went and played with other kids. You made friends. You had a lot of “exposure” given the amount of free time you had back then. Now as an adult you hear yourself saying this over and over “I don’t have the time” or “time is money!” or “I’m not sure I can make time for this”. Less time, less exposure, less people. If this were completely true is says that as you grow older your number of new friends shrinks. Unless you intentionally and purposefully go and make things happen.
To be honest with you this is “thing” that I’ve always done naturally just like breathing. You see, I’ve always been curious about people. Of course you can “fake” it but people “smell” that miles away (dishonesty and so does desperation have the same “smell” but more on this later). Ever since I was a kid I kept striking up conversations with everybody. At some point my mum even made a joke saying that “you’d be great at bringing Death over ’cause by the time you come back everyone would be long gone” !! stating that whenever she’d send me to get something from the store I’d always come back hours later as I always got so absorbed talking to everybody from the shop assistant to the milkman and our next door neighbor about anything and everything.
So by age 8 I knew everything about everyone from our neighborhood, kids’ parents, shop assistants, older kids, school teachers etc. Some of the most amazing things I’ve done (like getting an all-expenses paid trip to Asia in my 20’s or staying at the Ritz, etc) would not have ever been possible if for my unique way of relating to people.
You see curiosity brings with it a sense of play, and this is what we are all craving as adults. The freedom and joy that comes from not having an outcome attached to the experience and just taking things as they come. Kids are not afraid of failing. Kids are not afraid of success. Kids don’t have a notion of “oh, maybe I should be playing this over that because this will matter on my grade list”.
Exploring with a sense of wonder and innocence. And being amazed by the outcome. Whatever that might be. Because when you tie yourself to “this and only this” you are going to miss out on everything else. And staying open and receptive is the number 1 thing you can do at all times regardless where you’re at, your age or your income level.
So here’s to amazing exploratory trips down the road of life. in this year that has just started!
May this be the start of a beautiful friendship.
Now, tell me what are YOU passionate about?! What makes you giggle and kick your feet? Drop me a line in the comments & let me know.
And if you like what you’ve just read and have friends who might enjoy this do share it with them and hop on over to Facebook in The Pineapple Diaries to join in the conversation with other passionate people just like you.
xox
Ileana.
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