Читать книгу I Took the Only Path To See You - Jon Fisher - Страница 17

Just as you can never get into physical shape by exercising once, so you can only be happy by constantly following your passion and spending time with your loved ones. That means you must clearly identify both:

 What is your passion (and how can you pursue it)?

 Who are the most important people in your life (and how can you spend more time with them)?

Until you discover your passion, your life might feel aimless. Of course it's not enough to find your passion. You must also take action to follow through on your passion on a regular basis, every day if possible.

How do you find your passion? First, look for any activity that you enjoy doing. Remember, happiness is an action, not a destination, so you need to find the activity that you enjoy doing as its own reward, regardless of what anyone else might think.

For example, I once met a man who was passionate about spoons. This may sound silly, but he enjoyed spending everyday carving wooden spoons until they resembled sculptures you might expect to find in a museum.

Not only did this man enjoy the activity of carving wood, but he also loved the challenge of carving different items out of wood. He started with spoons but soon branched out to forks, bowls, picture frames, chairs, and anything else that could be shaped out of a single block of wood. His passion was simply carving wood into functional art that you couldn't help but admire.

So you not only want to look for any activity that you enjoy doing regardless of what anyone else might think, but you also want to choose an activity that provides a never-ending challenge. Can you think of a better life than one that lets you spend time doing what you love?

If you already know what you're passionate about, you just need the courage to pursue it and ignore any critics. However, if you're like many people, you may have no idea what you could be passionate about. To help find your passion, look at what you fear.

Far too many people take jobs they don't love because they're too afraid of pursuing what they do love. After all, it's far easier to look for that “safe” and “secure” job that promises a steady income along with the “security” of regular employment.

If you're playing it “safe” in life, ask yourself what are you afraid of? Identifying what you fear can be a huge clue to what you really want to do, but you just don't believe you can do it. Think of fear as a bright red blinking arrow pointing you in the direction you really want to go. Be brave and look past your fear. That's where you'll likely find your true passion in life.

Once you've defined your passion, write it down where you can see it every morning when you wake up. Also, write out your passion – on a piece of paper or on your phone – where you can review it during the day. Finally, study what you're most passionate about right before you go to bed each night. By constantly reminding yourself what you care about most, you can take action every day to move one step closer to your dream until you one day achieve success.

Besides knowing your passion, make a list of the people you care about the most. As much as we try not to face reality, we're all going to die one day, so it's important to spend as much quality time as possible with your loved ones.

That could mean doing something as simple as reading a book to a child before bedtime or riding a bicycle across Europe with a friend over the summer. Think about creating happy moments that you'll always remember with a smile on your face. Realize such moments will become even more precious once you realize we're all getting older and the world keeps changing around us every day. We can only repeat certain moments for a limited amount of time before they're gone for good.

Children grow up, parents get older, friends move away, and jobs change to ensure that life will never stay the same. Remember, everyone's time on Earth is limited and unknown, so make every moment you have as memorable as possible. Happiness is up to you.