Find Time For Your Passion by Linda Gray

Did you ever wonder how some people manage to find time for 'hobbies' and 'pastimes' when you are only JUST fitting in everything you HAVE to do in the space of each 24 hours? The answer is passion.

It's been said many times before, but the phrase ' if you want something badly enough you'll get it' is 110% relevant to our everyday lives.

Are you passionately committed to keeping a clean and tidy house? Then I would hazard a guess that your house is clean and tidy most of the time.

Are you passionately committed to your job and promotion prospects? The chances are you are on your way up that ladder right now.

However, the majority of us live our lives according to the passions and sometimes the whims of everyone around us. Why? Because we never stop to think what we actually WANT, what we actually LOVE or what we are actually passionate about.

Do you really, deep down in your soul, believe that the world will fall apart and no-one will like you if you don't keep your house clean? If so, then take a few tiny baby steps out of that box for a moment and remember the dust will always be there tomorrow... your friends or your dreams may not. Phew.. Now there's a kick in the teeth.

I often imagine I would like a clean and tidy house fit for a royal visit. But I'm never able to commit myself to the time and energy it requires - Why? Because I'm NOT passionate about housework. Never have been, never will be. I would rather spend time with my family and friends, chatting on the phone, going for long walks or dancing the night away. And guess what - a royal has yet to turn up on my doorstep un-announced!

Sometimes our passions get mixed up with will power or focus or even concentration.

I said I should give up smoking for years. Course I should. It's bad for you. My problem was that I DIDN'T WANT TO. No, I enjoyed smoking, so I carried on doing it.

Funny how it's easier to carry on doing the things you enjoy isn't it?

So we come straight back to passion... what do you like to do? Make a list. Write it all down. Even the stuff you know you 'shouldn't' do. You can sift that out later when you WANT to. But before you start your list, consider each passion carefully.

Do you really want a clean and tidy house for YOU or is it just so the neighbours won't say bad things about you when they drop in for coffee? If you are using your precious time to keep on the 'good' side of other people, pause for a moment and remember that those other people are definately NOT perfect. There will be areas of their lives you will not agree with - I guarantee!

I once had a neighbour who informed the world and it's mother she believed cleanliness was next to Godliness and spent all day every day cleaning her house. In the 12 years I lived next door to her, I don't believe I ever saw another person step over her threshold, apart from her family. Her passion was to have a clean and tidy house. Well, I guess that was okay for her, but I couldn't help feeling sorry for her family who were not allowed to invite friends home, make a mess, or get dirty when out playing. Her passion became an obsession. The reasons behind her actions were her own, but I didn't see her smile very often and laughter was a long way from her face. So why did she behave in this way? Perhaps she believed that was her place in the world and no-one could fault her if she performed her duties to the utmost of her ability.

Her children moved out as quickly as they could and her long-suffering husband moved in with a lady who cared more for him than the dust bugs. And who could blame him?

Winding down?

Most of us are committed to spending a certain amount of hours every day working, often for someone else, just to earn enough money to get through to the next paycheck. Does this sound like you?

At the end of the working day, we need to find somnething to make us feel good, to enable us to endure the next day's hard graft.

Governments are wise to this formula and have enabled the average working man/woman to be able to afford entertainment in their homes. Television keeps us sane - or does it? Television helps us wind down - or does it? Television makes us happy - or does it?

I don't watch television. I've always felt, although there are some great programmes and lots of learning to be gained, the television companies are determining WHAT we watch and WHEN we watch it.

I want to decide those things for myself.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a cold sales call one evening. The woman trying to sell me their latest phone package deal referred to a television advert. I told her I was unaware of this advert because I don't watch TV. She kept me talking for approximately 10 minutes during which time she referred me to this particular TV advert a further 4 times, and each time I assured her I had not seen it because I don't watch television. She DID NOT believe me. Or she just wasn't listening.

Is this what we have come to, - everyone in our region watches the same adverts, the same programmes, the same news stories every single day or night? Yep, I guess we have. The masses are kept under control. We are all thinking the same thoughts. Our brainwaves are tuned to the exact same brand of fish fingers being the best thing for our kids since sliced bread - hmm a debateable point! And we have no time left for ourselves.

Step out of the box.

Find your passions in life. Make a list and seriously consider each thing you write down. Is it what you want or is it what you think other people want from you. Remember your life is yours alone.

You may be responsible for the care of others, children, parents, the sick or needy. But ultimately this is YOUR life. You only get one shot at it.

Don't waste another minute watching those adverts - you can watch the exact same ones tomorrow if you so wish. Believe me they won't go away!

Television is one of the biggest time-consumers. And every moment you are watching, your life is ticking away. Scary huh? But true!

This article is not written as an anti-TV commercial. There is a place for TV in our lives and it is after all the fastest way of absorbing news from around the world. BUT, and this is a big but, most of us grab the remote control, and settle for the least boring channel of the moment. And each minute you spend watching that boring channel could be spent enjoying one of the passions in your life.

Every moment you watch that grinning fisherman feeding the latest shape fish in breadcrumbs to a bunch of kids, is a waste of your life.

Try this experiment to find time for YOU in your life...

1. Make a list of your passions - remember they MUST be YOUR passions, no-one else's
2. Pick one and find time for it.

Now how easy is that!!!

Many years ago I learned to knit. Knitting has had a bad press for as long as I can remember. -Knitting's for grannies - well, I am a granny now, and I knit less than I ever did! - Knitting is boring, time consuming. Who needs to spend three months making a jumper you can buy down the thrift shop for pennies.

But I enjoyed the challenge. New yarns and stylish pattern designs make knitting fun and fast, and I can knit even if I am watching TV, albeit a rare occurence for me personally!

Knitting can be picked up during the adverts and worked at for 5 or 10 minutes at a time. The equipment takes up very little space. It's cheap - often costing nothing - to set up. And best of all, for me, knitting is completely incompatible with eating chocolate. I like to get out my knitting during the adverts rather than diving into the fridge!

Knitting is my passion, and over the years I have learned to design my own clothes, toys and many practical household items. And, although at moments in my life I have had to live within an incredibly tight budget, I have always found the materials needed to be able to continue with my hobby.

Knitting is MY passion....what's yours?

Reading? Writing Poetry? Stamp collecting? Scrapbooking? or maybe your passions lie outside your four walls - Gardening? Tennis? Gym Club?

Find your passion and you will find the time AND resources to carry it through. You may even turn your hobby into a thriving business. Books have been written on the subject. I am on my way to creating a knitting empire at the moment.... Look out for me!!

---

About the Author:
Linda Gray is a freelancer writer and has spent more than 10 years nurturing a neglected acre of woodland and turning it into a beautiful family garden. For pots of gardening support drop in at http://www.flower-and-garden-tips.com anytime.. Bring a cuppa!

What Goes Down (Sometimes) Comes Up Again by Ken Donaldson

(Written in Yosemite National Park)

This is about the law of gravity inverted...sorta. Nature always strives to create balance, which is otherwise known as homeostasis. Examples would include day and night; high tide and low tide; summer and winter; and, of course, up and down.

Gravity, however, seems to create a skewed dimension because it pulls everything down. In day-to-day life terms, especially from an emotional perspective, the "down" energy can seem as powerful as gravity, and henceforth, very challenging.

I was thinking about all this as I was hiking in an area known as the Tuolumne Grove. Nestled in mountainous northern Yosemite National Park, here lies a grove of Sequoia trees. These mammoth trees can be 20 feet in diameter and close to 300 feet high. They are considered to be the largest trees in North America and make for great photographic images.

As I hiked down to the Grove I kept reminding myself that I was at least 6000 feet above sea level and that the hike back up might be somewhat challenging (some old asthma residue seems to kick up at higher altitudes). And so right I was. After thoroughly enjoying the Grove and getting some great photos, I found myself hoofing it back to the top. This is when this "up-down, down-up" theory of Life came to my mind. And I must say that it served as a wonderful distraction as I put one foot in front of another on my way back up again.

Going down was easy, as gravity and physics were more than happy to assist me. Going back up, however, was tough, as I was fighting gravity and those various laws of physics. It was hard work (I also had my tripod and my camera, as well as several pounds of other necessities), but as I shuffled my feet, no matter how small the step, I kept going forward and upward.

Before I knew it I had reached the top again with this story ready to written. Of course, I was more than ready for a nice meal and a short nap as well (thank goodness for the RV!!).

And so it is with Life. It is so easy to go "down" into the depths of apathy, addiction, depression and procrastination. It is like a gravitational magnet as it requires very little, if any, effort. That, with our incredible built-in denial system, can put us in a "down" space in a hurry. And yet, getting "up", or rising again, can seem to be as challenging as fighting gravity, as it takes more effort, much more, going up than going down.

I have often used the analogy of the "two thousand pound magnet and the paperclip" when describing this downward pull towards negative energy. That negative energy is the magnet and each of us is a paperclip. It matters not how much you know or how strong-willed that you might be, if you get too close to that magnet it will have it's way with you.

The key is to have an action plan in case you should find yourself being pulled into a negative situation. One thing is for sure; if you keep shuffling your feet forward and upward, as I did on my trek back up from the Grove, you will eventually get back out of the magnetic pull and to the "top" of your Life.

Furthermore, and perhaps more important, is to have a proactive mindset of knowing where some of these magnetic fields are. It is very wise to know the people, places, situations and activities that you know are a unique challenge for you to stay "up" when you are confronted with such. Create a proactive plan for yourself that will give you the options and support to make it through, and around, the magnetic pulls in Life.

Remember: It is up to you to take care of the "paperclip" that you are (Okay, a golden paperclip that is diamond studded!!). In other words, you are solely responsible for yourself and the better equipped you are in attitude, skills, knowledge and experience, the more likely you will be of staying "up" much more than being dragged "down". Go ahead; defeat the laws of gravity--who knows, maybe you'll make it all the way to the top!!

See you at the top...

---

About the Author:
Ken Donaldson has been based in Tampa Bay offering counseling, coaching, and educational programs since 1987. His REALationship Coaching programs empower people to have more successful lives, businesses and relationships by building a powerful relationship with themselves first. Ken is also the author of the upcoming book Marry YourSelf First! Visit his website: http://www.REALationshipCoach.com for more information and sign-up his free e-program Illuminations and Sparks of Brilliance. Copyright © 2005, Kenilee, Inc. Ken Donaldson, M.A., L.M.H.C. REALationship Coaching.

When Disaster Looms by Steve Goodier

It's said that we are regularly faced with magnificent opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations. I once read of a quick-thinking salesperson who uncovered such an opportunity which seemed, at first, to be a disaster.

With the presses set to run three million copies of Theodore Roosevelt's 1912 convention speech, the publisher discovered that permission had not been obtained to use photos of Roosevelt and his running mate, Governor Hiram Johnson of California. Copyright law put the penalty for such oversights at one dollar per copy.

Spotting a hidden opportunity, the chairperson of the campaign committee dictated a telegram to the Chicago studio that had taken the pictures: "Planning to issue three million copies of Roosevelt speech with pictures of Roosevelt and Johnson on cover. Great publicity opportunity for photographers. What will you pay us to use your photographs?"

The reply came back: "Appreciate opportunity, but can only pay $250." The campaign committee not only obtained the permission they needed, but came out $250 ahead!

Was the oversight a disaster or an opportunity? The answer, of course, depended on how they approached the problem. Perhaps that is why the Chinese word for "crisis" is written using the characters for "danger" and "opportunity." With a cool head and a little imagination, the danger in a crisis may be turned into an unexpected opportunity.

What hopeless problem are you currently facing? And what might happen if you approach it as a magnificent opportunity brilliantly disguised as an impossible situation?

---

About the Author:
Steve Goodier Publisher@LifeSupportSystem.com is a professional speaker, consultant and author of numerous books. Visit his site for more information, or to sign up for his FREE newsletter of Life, Love and Laughter at http://LifeSupportSystem.com.

Identity and Creating by Douglas Eby

Engaging in a creative venture often brings up questions and uncertainties related to personal identity: Am I qualified? Do I have enough experience, strength, talent, skill? Will the work be good enough? Will I be good enough?

Creative expression is based on both our inner selves and our abilities, so maybe it is inevitable we question both our self concept and talents.

But our insecurities and doubts may not be just a matter of objective competence. For example, two actors noted for being able to create distinctive and powerful characters have made revealing comments about their own identities. The late Peter Sellers once said, "If you ask me to play myself, I will not know what to do. I do not know who or what I am." And Jennifer Jason Leigh has claimed, "As a person, I don't really register that much. Director Robert Altman says that as a person I disappear in a way."

Feelings about identity can drive creative projects. Painter Laura Molina says on her website, "I feel the need to assert my identity in the most militant way possible... As an educated, native-born, English-speaking, fifth generation Mexican-American and a feminist, there is almost no reflection of me in the movies or television, which is almost as bad as being stereotyped."

Stifling a need to create, on the other hand, can leave "a small hole in the fabric of our self-esteem" as Gloria Steinem puts it. Not creating can also be a path to depression, according to psychologist Eric Maisel among others.

Saying we "can't" write, paint, perform on stage, develop a new medical test or create in some other way is in effect not giving ourselves "permission."

The sense of inability may be based on some outside standard of what a "real" creative person is, or relates to being a "failure" at doing something creative. Getting beyond or "bypassing" intellectual restrictions on our creativity can be a matter of shifting one's attitudes and unrealistic standards.

This idea of an outside authority for what we must be in order to create can be potently self-limiting. Almost any craft or artform has some collection of criteria for what makes it work, what makes it good. But creative people in any field often bend or even break those rules.

The common feeling of being a fraud, inadequate, an impostor, is something many of us have experienced to some degree in trying to realize our creative talents.

Director Jane Campion, esteemed for "The Piano" and other films, has admitted, "I never have had the confidence to approach filmmaking straight on. I just thought it was something done by geniuses, and I was very clear that I wasn't one of those."

It may be especially challenging for someone who has gained esteem, acknowledgment and identity in a field not considered "creative" when they want to pursue a more recognizably creative project.

But it isn't just a matter of self-concept; there are social pressures that can make defining our identity difficult. Creativity coach Dave Storer, one of the contributors to the book "Inspiring Creativity" (edited by Rick Benzel), writes that "most people in our culture will not let you easily claim a creator's identity. They will push against you and demand 'proof' of your creative talent."

He counsels to keep working at your chosen project anyway, and over time you will become comfortable with your identity, because it "comes from the doing of it."

Maybe our sense of identity is always fluid, and always unfinished. Many artists have commented that creating is not only a way to express their unique self to others, but is also a means to more fully understand and define who they are to themselves.

---

About the Author:
Douglas Eby writes about psychological and social aspects of creative expression and achievement. His site has a wide range of articles, interviews, quotes and other material to inform and inspire: Talent Development Resources
http://talentdevelop.com/.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/