Use this blog post to wake up inspired, happy and excited every day. Skeptical? I was an uninspired morning-hater, but then I discovered a secret.
It took me fifty years to discover this, plus a painful soul-search and much inspirational book reading. You can skip the epic effort because I’ll tell you the secret …
Are you curious?
Drum roll ….
Here it is: find your burning desire and spend time doing it. Don’t roll your eyes at me, this is actually possible. Like me, you were probably thinking:
• I don’t need a burning desire, do I? I love watching the grass grow.
• How the (bleep) do I find my burning desire?
• I’ll fix my life later, after my Game of Thrones / Netflix binge-a-thon.
I thought similar things for 48 years (yeah, I can slack) but then I decided to actually do it … find my passion / burning desire, and total shocker – I found it!
Ta-da …
Helping people boost happiness and stress less makes me feel happy. I find this difficult but love doing it. Harvard Professor of Psychology, Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, states the key to happiness is making wise choices of what to do, which maximizes our pleasure.
Bam! My passion makes me feel happy. Just today I said, “Good morning!” to my daughter. It burst from my mouth and shocked us both.
As a former morning-hater, I thought good morning advocates were crazy. But here I am … abra-cadabra … enjoying my mornings because I’m choosing to do what I love. Yesterday I woke up singing Oooohhhh What A Beautiful Morning. I apologize to my kids, who ran for cover. I might need a singing lesson, but me waking up singing feels miraculous.
I wish the same for you (sorry kids!) So how can you find your burning desire? Close your eyes and answer (at least) one of these questions:
•What activity makes you feel happy …. excited … thrilled?
•What loses you in time, so you’re shocked when it’s suddenly past midnight?
•What did you love as a child but gave up?
•What makes your heart zing-zing with conviction?
Discovering your passion takes deep thought but it’s worth it … it unstuck me (hallelujah!) and transformed my life from from black and white to color. Below are some of the items that helped me find my passion. Use them to light your fire. I give them all 5-stars.
•The Accidental Billionaires (book). Passionate entrepreneurs transform their dreams into billions.
•A New Earth: Awakening to your Life’s Purpose (book) . Woke me up. Mission accomplished, Mr, Tolle!
•The King’s Speech (movie). Against all odds, King George VI overcomes a debilitating speech impediment to claim his throne.
•Think and Grow Rich (book). A gold mine of inspiration.
Never, Ever Give Up (TED Talk). Experts agreed 60-year-old Diana Nyad couldn’t be the first to swim 110 miles from Cuba to Florida. She proved them wrong.
So … if a sarcastic, stuck fifty-something like me can find my passion you can too.
Find yours, I beg of you. You can thank me later.
What’s your passion or biggest source of inspiration? Please comment, like and share.
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About the author(s)
Kendeyl Johansen
Kendeyl Johansen is a tech geek creating inspirational multimedia content to increase happiness and health for individuals and organizations.