By Volunteer | Posted: May 19, 2020
Achievers in every field laud it as their fuel to success. The ones who don’t have it are annoyed at the lack of it. Some try to find it by changing careers. Some try to find it by giving their mind a major thinking exercise. And the ones who have it, prize it. We’re talking about an elusive and widely sought-after asset: passion.
Life without passion is a mere act of survival. A life of passion is an enjoyable adventure that drives progress and motivation.
Maya Angelou, the famous writer, says on the significance of passion: “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do with some passion, some compassion, some style.”
Passion is good to have. But, what to do if you don’t have it? How do you find your passion in life when it seems too distant for your reach?
Here are three ways of finding your passion.
Allow room for the irrational
“We usually do only that which is purposeful, useful and rational. Everything you see is through the rational mind. But intuition, discovery, new knowledge go beyond the rational mind.”
- Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Rationality snubs possibility. To find your heart’s calling, you first need to silence your rational mind. This doesn’t mean you resign from your day job and follow your every whim! It means keeping some time and space for doing something without analyzing it. This process will open new doors for ideas and self-discovery.
Elizabeth Gilbert, the famous writer of the book ‘Eat, Pray, Love’, was struggling for ideas for her new book. She took to gardening, something which her heart directed her to do but which held no immediate “usefulness” to her life. To her surprise, during one of her gardening sessions, she found an idea for her new book!
Be purposeful and present
There is a little secret about a passion that many of us don’t know: passion can be instilled in any task! You don’t necessarily have to find your dream job to feel passionate. Just do everything with 100 percent effort and enthusiasm. These two key ingredients are invoked by being entirely in the present moment! When the mind is not wandering and is in the present moment, it is naturally able to give itself to the task at hand.
The practice instills passion in you. When the fire of passion is lit, your enthusiasm for work also increases. When enthusiasm burgeons, so does passion. It is a continuous cycle.
Do your work with 100 percent effort. You will find your passion inside you!
Meditate to gain intuition, awareness & enthusiasm
While intuition tunes the mind to the heart’s calling, awareness of the present moment sparks passion for any activity. Meditation is instrumental in nurturing all three! It calms the mind and sharpens intuition. It heightens awareness and enthusiasm by connecting one with the source. One of the very best tools for meditation is the breath. Enjoy a free online session with a live teacher- Beyond Breath, to experience how the breath can bring you into an effortless and deep meditation.
Based on inputs from faculty members Prashant Lalchandani and Prajakti Deshmukh. This article first appeared on the Art of Living India blog.
