I cannot express how relieved I feel. I cannot believe I put so much value in what I’ve been researching that I allowed it to bring me down. I just finished watching a Super Soul Session where Elizabeth Gilbert gave a mind-blowing speech, Flight of the Hummingbird – the Curiosity Driven Life, and I no longer feel like a failure. Yay!
For a while now, I’ve been trying to find my purpose and ultimately, my passion. And I’ve been struggling with that. I recently decided to focus on tangible goals instead because I have no idea what my passion is but I still felt like a failure for not figuring it out. I still felt like I was missing something for not knowing what seemed to be so obvious for so many people. My friend even said that accepting my life as it currently is, is me “settling” and therefore not living to my fullest potential. Humph! But then, I saw that Super Soul Session episode. If you are struggling and feel like you are a failure or stuck in place because you don’t know what your passion is, listen to Ms. Gilbert and “take passion off the table…for now”.
Do not let passion define you. Let curiosity lead you. Trust it will lead you to your passion.
Let’s go back to being in the moment, shall we? Letting our curiosity lead us and allowing what we learned from one event to better our next experience. I feel like I knew that way back when, when life was simpler. Yet somehow in my conscious search to live a life of purpose, I lost that piece of wisdom. I promise now, I will never lose that again. I hope you will never lose it either.
strength. love. life. 
That is such good advice – thank you for sharing this. I completely get what you are saying about feeling disheartened not knowing what your passion is but I think many of us feel like that. Andy Stanley, in an unrelated topic, talks about asking the questions, “what am I grateful for and what breaks my heart” and I find that helpful too.
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Interesting. Focusing on what makes you grateful vs. breaks your heart, is that to help keep you centered and focused?
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RE: The Andy Stanley quote: my interpretation of “what breaks your heart” these days essentially boils down to what wrongs do you want to want to start working on. For me this is more outward and inward.
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Oh I like that too. Someone told me that the wrongs you want to work on is what sheds light on one’s passion.
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I think sometimes we get so involved in the drive for ‘figuring out’ things in our lives and making changes and finding out what we’re meant to do in this world that we forget the simplest and main goal is for us to be present in the now and pay attention. Maybe that’s what we’re missing…because in our search for our passion we’re so active and busy that we don’t leave that still space needed for us to be receptive…
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I completely agree. I’m totally guilty of getting swept up. Mainly because I have that nagging sense of running out of time.
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Me too! And sometimes people tell me, “that’s okay, you’re still young”, and “there’s no hurry” and “you don’t have to figure it all out now”. And I’m sitting there with a worried face actually feeling that urgency for doing figuring things out, as if I’m really running out of time and this is my last chance.
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On a side note, your header image is just stunning. The perfect balance of soothing blue ocean blending into gray skies with a striking red focal point (the beautiful girl doesn’t hurt either) I hope you have that up on your wall! Pictures like that deserve to be displayed
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Thank you so much for saying that. I actually struggled to have that picture up as I try to avoid being the focal point. My husband disagreed. He pushes me to step out of my comfort zone. =)
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Good for him, and you, for stepping out with such beauty
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