Is there something you constantly seek in life? Do you feel you are missing something and don’t know what it is? Regardless of the many things you have acquired in life, do you feel life is empty? Unfulfilled?
Most of us live lives that are unfulfilled. From a very young age we are molded into fulfilling other people’s expectations such as our parents, grandparents, teachers, older family members, leaders or other community members. Many of us struggle and strive to meet other people’s expectations for years and don’t even realize until its too late that we are in fact fulfilling other people’s expectations and not our own.
Amazingly I find, although we live life according to other people’s expectations, deep down we also know what we truly desire. We also know that we are not living our Authentic Lives and are not fulfilling our own true passions. Although we have heard and may continue to hear form our authentic inner selves, we go with the flow ignoring what we truly desire. We go about pursuing life and career paths that mean absolutely nothing to us. We sit through days, semesters and years to complete diplomas and degrees that bring us no fulfillment – no passion – no desire. For years and years we get stuck in careers and life paths that limits us our true potential. We tell ourselves we are doing fine in our own prison cells even if we are not.
Perhaps, you have acquired everything you thought you needed in life– the big house with the backyard swimming pool, the sleek two-door sports car, the big bank balance with lots of zeros at the end, a wardrobe full of designer clothes, and the list goes on – you are in fact may be sitting in that corner office with that breathtaking view – your name proudly displayed on the door – Are you gazing at your own name and wondering who that is? Do you feel proud of yourself? Are you satisfied with what you have accomplished? If you do – it’s wonderful, Congratulations! You have made it. You have done well for yourself and I don’t think you need to read further. But, if you don’t then perhaps you could benefit from reading further.
Do you feel you have achieved everything you possibly could but yet not feel an ounce of happiness inside? Do you know deep in your heart that you are missing something very important? Do you feel that you have acquired a lot of “stuff” that does not bring any pleasure or passion to your life? Regardless of everything you have acquired do you feel you haven’t achieved or accomplished anything? Do you feel that you have done everything to look good on the outside but feel lost and lonely inside?
It’s never too late to discover your true passion. I believe we must at least get to know our true passions – to know what sparks a fire inside of us. What makes our hearts and souls glee with sheer joy? Many of us spend years and years in colleges and universities studying and perfecting subjects and concepts that don’t even interest us but yet, we hardly spend time to get to know us. Some of us have even reached mid life without knowing what we want – what we truly want. We become masters in “this and that” and “specialists” of a lot of things. But yet we know nothing of our own selves – isn’t it sad?
If this sounds familiar then I think you are ready to explore more about your self. Today, take the time to think about your true passions. Listen to your Authentic Voice. Allow your inner-self to speak. It’s in you and it’s in every one of us. Finding your Authentic Voice in my opinion has nothing to do with a religion. (That is if my opinion counts!) Your Authentic Voice speaks to you when you are at peace with your self - when you honour and respect your self. Sometimes you may be able to find your Authentic Voice on your own. If you cannot, you may require the help of someone else such as a Coach – someone who can guide you through the process step-by-step.
Whether one decides to pursue its true passion or not – I believe at least we owe ourselves to find it. When you do, you will start to honour your self. I truly believe we are here for a purpose and the purpose of life is to find it and pursue it.
I have found many people wondering what their true passions are about. Many of them do know that they are missing something in life but are afraid to find out. This is often due to fear of change. I believe it’s easy and safe to stick to what you know even if it does not give you joy. So most of them continue to ignore their Authentic Voices and go on living mundane lives. Yet a very few of them pursue their passions and begin to create the type of life they want. They choose to live colourful, meaningful lives by fulfilling their true potential and passions. All this takes time, lots of effort and taking real actions – one-step at a time. Yes! You will have to pay a price and I believe, at the end it will be truly rewarding. I don’t want to sound like it’s a “piece of cake” – because its not. You do have to cultivate lots of patience, trust in yourself and confidence. Often compromises and sacrifices have to be made. At the end of the day – it’s your decision. Only you have the power to make it happen.
Today, I have found my passions and have started to honour them. Like many of you I lived my life to please others. I pursued things that gave me no passion. I ignored my Authentic Voice for a long time, telling myself there is nothing I could do or it’s too late. I blamed others for my unhappiness. Deep down I knew that things would be better if I changed but I didn’t want to because I was afraid of the unknown. I lived in my own prison cell for a long time until I became so tired of not fulfilling my true passions – it was painful. It finally seemed more painful not to take the risk than to actually take it.
I must admit, it has not been smooth sailing – I have crossed many deep seas and from time-to-time faced many storms, there is always barriers road-blocks - there is still blocks of time where I feel I will never be able to get through – I am sure, I will continue to face them in the future too. At least, now I know where I am headed and deep in my heart I know I am in the right path – I know I am honouring myself and doing what I am meant to do. It’s such a beautiful feeling. Sometimes, it gives me that “on top of the world” kind of feeling. Some of you may think that this is only possible for the rich and famous for I used to think that too. I am neither rich nor famous, but an ordinary person and I have started to discover my true passions. I started one little step at a time. Today, it sure feels good – I hope you will decide to do the same for you.
Today, give your self a chance to discover your true passion and start living your Authentic Life… ONE STEP at a time.
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