Live Your Passion By Taking Advantage of Your Opportunities

I frequently work with people who want greater meaning in their lives. They want their lives to count. Sometimes they are bored; sometimes they feel trapped by their everyday life; sometimes they just want to find greater happiness or meaning.
This has lead me to think about the importance of connecting with your passion, and taking advantage of opportunities that will help you live fully. Living fully sometimes means being more successful and fulfilled in your work; sometimes it means connecting with other things that are important in your life and allowing yourself to live more joyfully.

The key to living a full life, I think, is to take advantage of opportunities that life brings you. No matter who you are and what you do, life beings opportunities. Too many people postpone living fully for a later time. They plan to enjoy life when they retire. They will take advantage of that opportunity when the economy gets better. Unfortunately, we end up postponing great opportunities to live fully because we think we should. We are trying to be responsible. But sometimes we end up missing great opportunities because of it. I know. I have done it too.

All of our lives contain obstacles and opportunities. Things happen in life that slow us down or stop us from achieving the goals we want to achieve. We sometimes ignore opportunities because the timing isn't right or we are immersed in something else. That's O.K. if it isn't something about which you feel passionate.

But if you have an opportunity to do something that fits your passion or feeds your passion, you owe it to yourself to do it. Because that opportunity may not come around again.

What if you don't know what your passion is? Then you owe it to yourself to really explore this issue. Knowing what you are passionate about allows you to live more fully and meaningfully. It may allow you to make a difference in your life and the lives of others.

You can begin to identify your passion when you ask yourself questions about what you really feel strongly about. What would you defend to the death? What sparks your excitement? What is the most important thing for you? What do you thoroughly enjoy in life? What makes you come alive? What brings great joy? What message are you here to share with the world? What is your life's passion and purpose?

Maybe your answers are tentative at first. Maybe you have more than one thing that sparks your passion. That's fine. Sometimes your passion evolves as you pay attention to it and take the opportunities that show up for you. When you allow yourself time to explore your passion, more opportunities for it will show up.

The expression "seize the day" tells us to grab those opportunities. Grab that passion when it is present. Finding your passion and expressing it in your life and work is a wonderful way to make your life meaningful and fulfilling. And isn't that what living is all about?

(c) 2009 Linda S. Pucci, Ph.D.