RAMONES: Finding your passion

I tend to get weird looks when I tell my professors that I plan on leaving school for a week during midterms. In order to go, I had to turn in three term papers, 13 statistics problems and get tons of reading done before I left. I will have to miss tons of class and make up a statistics midterm. Did I mention I’m not exactly great at statistics? On top of that, I’m covering my travel expenses and all my other costs, which easily breaks $1,000.
I’m sitting in a hotel lobby in Portland, Ore., volunteering to assist in certifying the 2008 International Master Neurostrategist and Hypnotherapist class. The Master Neurostrategist and Hypnotherapy training is a group of strategists of all ages coming from around the world learning skills that help people move beyond behaviors that aren’t serving the person. This is my second year attending this event and my sixth event with SRI Coaching. I know you may be asking why I would put myself through all this extra work to be at an event that I don’t get paid for?
We tend to forget about ourselves and not take care of ourselves. We become so absorbed in the rat race, we forget about taking care of our body and soul. We begin to, at best, become apathetic about our lives and, at worst, hate our lives. We once believed that in order to be successful we have to sacrifice our happiness now, thinking that it will pay off in the future. Unfortunately, we’ve gotten so used to putting off our happiness or our passion that we never find an excuse to experience it. We’ve come to believe that we have to be given permission to be happy.’
We have the right to be happy and to be passionate. This is a right that no government, person or military can take away. We are the only ones who control our emotions and actions and no one can force that away.
Doing these events juices my soul. I’m willing to do it because this is my passion in life. I know every single one of you has something in your life that energizes you. Even if you haven’t slept in two weeks, you could do it for days on end, pay money for it or sacrifice your GPA for it. Even if you weren’t good at it at first, you keep doing it, asking anyone for the answers to get better.
The problem arises when we decide what we want to do for our career. We used to decide to take the job that is practical, what we’re good at or what pays more. We sacrifice our soul to pay the bills or because we made it our ‘job’ we begin to hate it and let the people around us taint the experience for us. Why? Who said that we had to do what was practical for our lives? Who said we have to hate our job? Even if you can’t do your passion for your career, you have to find a way to always keep it in your life. You’ll notice that life becomes better when you take care of yourself and feed your passion. You have to stay passionate about your life otherwise you’ll never get out alive.