Читать книгу Stop Playing Safe - Margie Warrell - Страница 16

My two youngest sons, Matthew and Ben, were fortunate enough to be taught by Emmy Bocek when they were in kindergarten. While Emmy had been teaching rambunctious kindergarteners for 30-odd years by the time I met her, she had no shortage of energy or passion for a classroom of noisy little humans. Emmy told me once that she believed she had the ‘best job in the world’. This was self-evident from both her enthusiasm and patience. I was always grateful for her passion (almost as much as I was that I didn't have to manage a classroom of kids every day — my own four were plenty!).

Over the years I've met many people from all walks of life who feel passionate about their work. From sheep farmers and chefs to scientists and beauticians — while how they spend their days spans the spectrum, they all had a passion for what they did that brought meaning to their days and, as research shows, will most likely add years to their life.

So, what makes you come alive? I'm not referring to taking your dream holiday or watching your team win the game. I'm talking about a why that moves up the food chain from being about you to being about something bigger than you. It's about connecting with what you feel passionate about, knowing that when you focus your attention and effort on something that puts a fire in your belly — that draws on your innate talents — you will have an invaluable and unique influence on all those your work impacts.

There's no reason to feel daunted. You don't have to declare at this point that you want to cure cancer, invent the next iPhone or solve the world's energy problems (though you might). This is about doing something that lights a spark and inspires you in some way. In fact the word ‘inspire’ comes from the Latin inspirare, which means ‘to breathe or blow into’. So when you think about something that really lights you up, you will feel a sense of ‘new life’ breathing … awakening … within you.

For instance, my friend Ron Kaufman has a passion for uplifting service. In fact he wrote a book with that title. Yet his passion for service is far more than a commercial venture. Ron lives and breathes what it means to be of service in the world — it permeates every part of his life. You cannot be in Ron's presence without feeling lifted up and cared for. As Ron shared on my podcast, his whole life is about putting the heart of others at the heart of what he does.

So what about you — what do you care about? If you don't feel a burning passion that's totally fine. In which case, just think about what makes you feel that bit more alive than you might otherwise. Whatever it is … move towards it. Passion is just a word. It's the energy you feel that matters.

When I returned to study Psychology in my late 20s I had no idea my work would evolve as it has — to coaching, keynote speaking, writing books and sharing insights as a ‘media commentator’. Yet as I have discovered, when you move in a direction that calls to you — that gives you energy vs sapping it from you — new horizons of possibility open up that you could never have imagined had you stayed where you were. As Martin Luther King Jr once said, ‘You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.’