No one will ever love you the way you love you. With everything you have going on in your life, are you lacking inspiration, motivation, and self-love? Find the solution in a passion project.
The stories I hate to hear about are the ones my friends tell about being overworked, overwhelmed, and uninspired. I don’t like those stories from any women in my life.
We all have different jobs that they work from home and at an office. Out of our little group of five, four of us are mothers. The four of them have “real jobs” they do every day for their paychecks. I am the only one who works for myself. They have all lost a parent. I have been blessed to have both of mine. They live a fast-paced life; I am lovingly mocked for my “hippie” mentality.
Somewhere along the way, I found myself drifting away from my values’ roots and taking on more of a harsh approach from their vibes. Don’t misunderstand. Out of our circle of friends, I have the hardest outer shell. But, I am also the quickest to sidestep negative thoughts and actions.
Regardless of how I am perceived, I know the importance of having a passion for life. Having something to look forward to excites your mind and puts a little skip in your heart.
HAVE A LOVE AFFAIR…WITH YOURSELF
I rely on audiobooks to get most of my reading done. With the miles I drive every day from gate to gate checking cattle, audiobooks have been the best way to get my knowledge daily.
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert found its way into a “suggested listens” email. The beautiful cover jumped out to me and inspired me to take a listen.
Between the cow counts and miles on the road, I rediscovered a passion for creating and writing again.
Oddly, the biggest piece of advice I heard was to have an affair with your creativity.
If you have ever experienced a whirlwind love affair, you know about the rush of excitement you get when you get to meet up with your secret person.
Now, affairs are not all bad. I‘m talking about the thrill of being with someone you knew you shouldn’t be spending time with at the moment. Remember those late nights sneaking out of your parent’s house to meet your boyfriend they told you to stay away from? I cannot be the only one.
Those exciting feelings can be reproduced into something that will actually benefit you.
Is there something you want to create, but are too afraid of what others might think? Can you borrow time for something that excites you again?
THE THRILL OF THE CHASE
Think about something you want to accomplish, but you are too overwhelmed, exhausted, and out of time to do it.
The best thing you can do is spend some secret time with your project.
Imagine finding five minutes to write a novel on your phone while you are waiting to pick up your kids. Or, sneaking in some time at the kitchen table to write a blog post while you are waiting for the oven to preheat for dinner.
With the quality of phone cameras out these days, you can shoot some quality shots while you are out running errands and turn them into beautiful prints.
Your passion project doesn’t have to be a creative one. Maybe you have longed to grow a garden but never set aside time to do it. Perhaps you lean towards buying and flipping items on Facebook. Learning a new language is another fun project idea.
If you can’t think of anything that really sets your heart on fire, just try something new. The project doesn’t have to be extravagant or outlandish. You need it to be something small and manageable that doesn’t feel like just another thing to do.
FIND THE TIME TO LOVE YOUR LIFE
Feeling guilty about spending time on something you want to do instead of something you should be doing?
Don’t worry about it.
You have to refuel yourself before you can help anyone else. The airplane oxygen mask demonstration works here. You should put your mask on first before assisting anyone else, no matter what.
The same goes for your life.
Find the project that makes you excited to work on and look forward to throughout the day. It’s the secret things in life that are the most thrilling.
