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The Cost of Not Living your Passion | 9 Truths About Passionate Living

May 05, 2021

Find inspiration. Discover your passion. Live with purpose.

Lately, getting back to my passions and finding inspiration has been a challenge. Some days it feels like a chore, just another item on my “to do” list.  It’s been hard to be joyful. This pandemic has brought on an amplified desire in me to hunker down. My introverted self welcomed shelter in place with open arms and strategized to make it a permanent lifestyle choice. My reaction to stress and anxiety is to get very still and make no sudden movements.

If I’m honest with myself, I’ve been in the midst of this struggle for the last 3 years, long before the pandemic.  I was in an unhealthy situation that ripped and tore at my confidence. I stopped doing the things I loved while endlessly trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. I focused all my energy on fixing the unfixable. I ended up depleted by the hopelessness of it all.

2020 brought about a host of unfortunate events. Like many, I was served one hit after another: a friend’s illness and passing at a young age, a back injury, home remodeling challenges, Covid, social injustice and unrest and a draining political environment.

I lost my passion. I had no inspiration. I was in survival mode. Sometimes you just need to survive and focus your attention on extricating yourself from situations that aren’t healthy, using the time to reset and heal your heart (and your body).

As I started to emerge from the funk that was 2020, my existential crisis arrived just in time.  I realized I was paying a high price for not living passionately and not doing the things that bring me joy. I wasn’t doing what I’m called to do, what I’m passionate about.  I wasn’t feeling passionate about anything anymore because too much time had passed since I immersed myself in those activities.  There was an overwhelming dullness to life and an ache that kept whispering to me: “get back to doing what you love.”

But first I needed to find inspiration. I spent time recently with my hands in the dirt. Planting flowers and herbs. Meticulously placing tiny seeds in the dirt. Hoping I’ll see life emerge in the next 2 weeks. You might think this ambitious project to have fresh herbs in my summer salads means that I have a green thumb. The opposite is true. In fact, those who truly know me, likely call me a plant serial killer behind my back.

But I keep trying to make things grow. I keep buying plants even though there is a dismal and historic (and generous) 25% survival rate. I keep trying because I love the feeling of getting lost in act of planting, daily watering and (hopefully) watching growth and transformation. This miracle of nature inspires me.

Through doing inspirational activities, I’m starting to find the energy to do what I’m passionate about again. It can be tough to get motivated to reignite your passion after a break (some may call it a breakdown). But it’s so important to rebound back to the state of creativity and motivation. There’s a high cost to pay when you suspend passionate living. Here are some of the costs you may be incurring and signs you need to start to ignite your passions.

9 Truths About Passionate Living to Help You Make A Change Today

Life is not MEANT to be hard. Life IS hard, because, well, it’s life. The glorious space between the hard times is intended to be lived with joy and passion. I know this for sure. You are meant to bring this elevated, high vibration self to this world for a purpose. Your light shines so others can see through their own darkness. Your light makes people realize that they also have the light within themselves. Don’t deny yourself and do not deny others of this light. It is NEEDED.

Give yourself permission to live passionately.

WHEN…. When I get the money, when I have the time, when I’m the perfect size, when I meet the perfect person, then I will live passionately. The problem with contingencies is there is no guarantee of any of these things showing up. So, you wait for the perfect time. And you wait. And you wait.

Placing your passion in the hands of contingencies is a dangerous habit. It’s faulty ground where your dreams are more likely to fall through the cracks. Your passions exist within you already. NOW is the perfect time to begin.

Start slow and be kind to yourself. Dedicate and schedule small amounts of time, daily or even weekly to spend on a passion project. This is not wasted time.

Stop waiting to live passionately.

If passion is what your soul is calling you to do and what you are able to lose yourself doing, then your purpose is who you become by living a passionate life. You cannot realize the full extent of who you are and your purpose here on this earth without first stepping into your passions. The foundation of your purpose is to live the most joyful, healthy and full existence in this lifetime that you’ve been gifted. This full person can then manifest their purpose. Without passion, purpose doesn’t show up.

When you marry your passion and your purpose, you bring to light those unique skills and talents you possess. The essence of your being intersects with your personality to bring an elevated self to the forefront.

Living passionately is an essential component to life.

The universe has a tricky way of working. She will give you reminders, clues and opportunities. She will nudge you in the direction of your passion. If you ignore the signs, she will become slightly more aggressive – in your best interest of course. You can resist her guidance. You always have free will. But she won’t forget, and she will never give up on you. Lean into her guidance. She will hold you up when you feel like falling back. You can trust that she won’t let you fail. You can trust that she has knowledge of your capabilities and believes you are gifted beyond your imagination.  She’s invested in you and making your dreams come true.

Notice the signs the universe provides.

Do you ever find yourself doing regular daily tasks, then the thought pops into your head….” You should….” Mine is always,,,, “ you should write…” “you’re a writer”. It also whispers to do all sorts of creative things like paint, go out in nature, garden, take pictures. The whispers I’m talking about are the kind, loving whispers, not the hateful ones. The kind ones are telling you the truth. The hateful, negative whispers are LIARS and the source and motivation are fear.  The kind whispers know what’s in your heart.

We hear the whisper then we question and doubt them. People who get the loving whisper to write then try to argue with it. “But I’m not a writer” (hateful whisper). If you get the whisper: “you’re a writer”, you ARE indeed a writer. Because people who are not writers, don’t get the whisper to write. They get another whisper. They get the whisper to apply for that promotion. Their whisper tells them to talk to that person, take that course that leads them down a certain path. They get the whisper to take that trip, go to that retreat, pick up the paint brush.

The other whispers I get to paint, spend time in nature, take pictures, are supportive whispers. They are the whispers that tell me to go out and get inspired. Get your creative juices flowing. The whisper doesn’t tell me I AM a painter or photographer. It DOES tell me I’m a writer.

Get still and trust the whispers.

My passion is not nature photography. Nature photography is my inspiration. Inspiring activities are like fertilizer to your passions. You need to feed your passions with activities that inspire you. Planting an herb garden is not my passion. But the act of gardening and watching things grow stimulates my mind.

My passions are helping people through coaching and writing. But there is a lot of fear around putting myself out there, taking a chance on myself, and facing criticism. Therefore, inspiration is so critical. When you get lost in creativity, your mind starts to open. It becomes receptive to dreaming and imagining what could be. You start to release the negativity and doubt. This also happens during exercise and walks in nature, hanging out at the beach, sticking your feet in the water. These are life giving activities that are meant to spur on your passions. Don’t skip the inspiration.

If you find yourself unsure about what you’re passionate about doing, accelerate your inspiration and it will materialize.

We put so much pressure on ourselves to find our passions and our purpose. “Is it the right one. How will I know? What if I lose passion for what I choose? I don’t have just one. Which one do I choose?”

Very few people come out of the womb with a knowing that you have the skills and desire to be a concert pianist or some other outwardly obvious gift. For most of us it takes time and reflection to determine what we are passionate about.

Choosing a passion is not a life sentence. It’s not a contract written in blood. As we evolve, so do our interests and our passions. As we learn and grow, our passions align with our new knowledge about ourselves and life in general.

It’s ok to have multiple passions and it’s ok for your passions to change over time. It is also perfectly ok to not know what your passion is. This is your free ticket to explore. Your passion can be found when you’re feeling the most joy. Just like a true love, it will show up when you’re not looking.

Don’t hold on too tight. Release expectations (internal and external) and focus instead on finding inspiration.

We get sucked into the drama and the “shoulds” of life. Then we acclimate to our busy-ness and stress. So, we delay our passions. We put them on the back burner and wait for the day when you can get back to doing the things we love. Our obligations become a reasonable and justifiable excuse to delay passionate living. No one can fault you for prioritizing children or parents or bills or other obligations. The longer we put off our passions, the more fear sets in.  “But I’m not very good at it”, “it won’t turn out like I imagine”, “people will judge me” “people will call me selfish” “I AM selfish”. (Remember the bad whispers… they lie). Eventually we turn a temporary situation into a permanent excuse. Busy and stressed are excuses when it’s really fear that’s keeping you stuck.

You know you’re in trouble when you start looking for the drama. Gossiping, picking fights, obsessing over insignificant things, are all ways we choose drama over joy. You seek out distractions and become addicted to the temporary gratification it gives you by alleviating your fears of failure (or success).

Detox yourself from distractions by scheduling time every day to dedicate to your passions.

There’s danger in living without passion. Your life starts to dull. It begins to look black and white and gray. The edges soften, the texture and the detail fade. Then the apathy and boredom set in. You start to care less and less about the regular things going on around you. The only thing worse than apathy is depression. Feeling sad and even a bit lonely because it’s like you lost a best friend. But what you really lost is yourself.

Don’t forget what it feels like to live in your passion. Bath in it. Get lost in something before you completely lose your desire to do so.

Passionate living shouldn’t be a chore. It’s a gift. Everyone needs passion in their life. It is what makes us feel human and alive. My passion is to help others believe that they are worthy and deserving of living a passionate life, that passionate living is self-less, not selfish. My passion is to deliver this message to you and hopefully inspire you to live your best life – the life you deserve to live. This world needs your most alive, most evolved and joyful self. This is the way we transform ourselves and transform the world.

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