“EVERY GREAT ENDEAVOR HAS BEEN FUELED BY PASSION”

Chuck Gallozi (author, speaker, and certified NLP practitioner) said, “Every great endeavor has been fueled by passion.”  I was recently reminded of his wise words when a Delta Kappa Gamma (DKG) Society International (an honor society for women educators) friend called to let me know that her efforts to get DKG’s founder, Dr. Annie Webb Blanton, included in the National Women’s History Museum listings had finally been met with success. 

My friend worked tirelessly to achieve this accomplishment. Every time she provided an update on her efforts, it was easy to hear in her voice the passion she had for this project.  Passion relates to a strong liking, a deep interest, or a devotion to something.  It is the desire that creates commitment.  When passion drives our approach to something, we are enthusiastic, eager, energetic, and exhilarated in that approach.

On our life journey, we need passion, that strong desire, to achieve our goals or to overcome the circumstances that might stand in the way of reaching our goals.  When we are passionate about something, we are excited to deal with it.  When we are passionate about something, we get so engrossed in dealing with it or working through it or with it that time just flies by.   When we are passionate about something, we put our whole heart and soul into making it happen.  And when change has crossed our life journey’s path, if we work through that change with a sense of passion, we often forget that there has been a change; that we are no longer in our comfort zone.  Our passion can often create a new comfort zone in the changed environment.

Besides feeling us with desire and enthusiasm, passion can help us achieve our goals or overcome the circumstances that might stand in the way of reaching our goals by:

UNLEASHING OUR POSITIVE SELF.  When we are passionate about something, we are actually happier.  We are more apt to be optimistic and see or look for the good in things.  Being positive about and seeing the good in things will only help us toward our goal or around anything standing in our way of reaching our goal.

ALLOWING US TO PUT OUR ALL AND OUR BEST INTO WHAT WE DO.  Approaching anything that we face along our life journey with gusto makes whatever we face easier.  When we are passionate about something, we are willing to put in extra effort to go above and beyond.

BOOSTING CONFIDENCE.   Passion inflates our confidence level.  We feel better about ourselves and our ability to successfully handle things. When we are confident, we do not worry about failing.  How can we fail at what we love doing?  Our passion helps us overcome obstacles; we feel like we can do anything and deal with anything that comes our way.

ENERGIZING US.  When we are dedicated to something or have a deep interest in something, we can’t wait to deal with it.  We are energetic, enthusiastic, and ready to tackle whatever comes our way.  At times we seem like the energizer bunny – we just keep going and going and going.   Passion helps us develop the mindset for “what next?” which inspires and motivates us to keep moving forward.

DIALING UP OUR CREATIVE SIDE.  When we are creative, we are willing to look at things in unconventional ways.  We are divergent in our thinking. 

We can nurture our passion by:

• Playing and connecting with our inner child.
• Approaching tasks and situations with gusto.
• Smiling and knowing what puts a smile on our face.
• Showing our confidence and not fearing mistakes or failure.
• Identifying our dreams and desires and following them.
• Observing what comes easy to us or what we find easy to do.
• Nurturing and balancing all aspects of our lives and ‘recharging our batteries’ when necessary.

Passion is one of the most important keys to success.  John Maxwell (American author, speaker, pastor)  tells us, “Desire is everything—it can literally overcome any circumstance, obstacle or hindrance in your way. People with desire—with passion—have already succeeded before they even begin—because they never considered that their dream, no matter its magnitude, cannot be accomplished.”   If we want to be successful at ‘whatever’ we are doing or facing, we have to love ‘whatever’ it is.

Passion is, as Joan Chittister (American Benedictine nun and internationally known author and lecturer) says, “…the very heartbeat of life.”  It makes the impossible, possible.  It lightens our load by making things fun.  Passion breeds enthusiasm. It makes us feel good about ourselves and what we’re doing.  It is the natural “alarm clock” that makes us want to bound out of bed and start our day. Passion helps us continue to travel our life journey with a spring in our step, a song in our heart, a smile on our face, and the strength to face whatever may come our way!  It truly does fuel all great endeavors!

PRACTICING GENTLENESS

I am so blessed to have a bald eagle family residing on my property.   The adults have built a nest in the tree line which is about 300 yards from the house and visible from many rooms in the house.  Getting a first-hand look at the day-to-day activities of these magnificent birds is amazing.  This eagle family provided the inspiration for this week’s post on gentleness.  We might not associate gentleness with this large bird of prey, but when I watch the adults interact with their eaglets, gentle definitely describes their actions, especially when the eaglets are only weeks old. 

The above picture shows momma Joy getting ready to feed this year’s one week old eaglets, Harmony and Serenity.  With the eaglets so little, when Joy walks in the nest she does so with the gentlest of steps.  Her feet and talons have the capacity of squishing a little one but moving in a tender and mild-mannered way, she avoids bringing any harm to her little ones.

Watching momma Joy and poppa Hope with their young ones got me to thinking that if they have the capacity to be gentle so do we.  Right now there is just too much inhumanity going on in our world.  I long for a world where gentleness is the norm rather than the exception. 

So what is gentleness?  Basically, it is the quality of being kind, tender, or mild-mannered.  It is being respectful and loving toward all things.  Wayne Dyer, author and speaker in the field of self-development, tell us to “Practice being gentle, respectful, and loving toward all things. Remind yourself that your efforts do make a difference, even if you think they are miniscule in comparison to the magnitude of the problem.” 

When we practice gentleness, we:

• Show compassion; we feel for someone’s situation and we feel motivated to do something about it.

• Are tolerant; we understand and accept the different ideals and beliefs of others.

• Are respectful; we show regard for the personal dignity, feelings, wishes, and traditions of others.

• Are sensitive in our actions, with our words, and in our thoughts.

• Provide encouragement; we give support or hope.

• Remain true to our core values and use them to guide our actions.

• Are responsive (rationally driven) instead of reactive (emotionally driven).

• Put others at ease; we make them comfortable in our presence.

• Lend a helping hand to those in need.

• Listen, just listen.

• Connect on a deep emotional level with others and respond with kindness.

• Respond with genuine care and concern.

• Demonstrate positivity; we approach situations in a positive, optimistic manner.

• Remain calm, cool, and collected in the most challenging of situations.

When we practice gentleness, we change everything around us for the better.  Mahatma Gandhi (Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist) said, “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”  Well, the world needs some serious shaking right now.  We all need to do whatever we can to change our small corner of the world for the better.  Let’s work to shake our small corners of the world by practicing as much gentleness as we can and in our gentle ways, let’s make others feel better about themselves, comforted, supported, and hopeful.  Let’s start a ripple effect of gentleness!

DECLUTTERING OUR LIVES

Before I begin talking about decluttering, let’s look at what clutter is.  The standard definition is a lot of disorganized stuff in one place.  So, decluttering is the process of removing things we do not need from a place in order to make it more pleasant and more useful.  During spring, we see many articles on how to declutter our homes.  But, in this post, I will not talking about the traditional spring decluttering when we get rid of things we no longer find useful.  However, I am talking about something similar.  This week I want to explore the clutter we have in our minds.  I like Karen Kingston’s (a leading expert on clutter clearing and the world’s leading authority on space clearing) definition for mind clutter, “Clutter is stuck energy. The word ‘clutter’ derives from the Middle English word ‘clotter,’ which means to coagulate – and that’s about as stuck as you can get.”

Think about it.  Mind clutter is the things that get stuck in our heads – that coagulate – and hold us back.  Most mind clutter is stuff we do not need especially because it takes away from the pleasantness of our lives and robs us of making the most of each day.  Mind clutter can be when we:

• Are overwhelmed by our thoughts.
• Focus on the negative.
• Worry about things outside of our control.
• Hold on to emotions like anger and sadness.
• Hold on to resentments and grudges.
• Hold on to old ideas and bad habits.
• Allow distractions to dominate our thoughts.
• Delay making decisions.
• Allow thoughts to flit around like a butterfly.

Why is decluttering our minds important?  When we declutter our minds, we manage our thinking patterns, get rid of the thoughts that hold us back, and eliminate thoughts that no longer serve a positive purpose in our lives.   This leads to:

• Releasing the stuck energy.
• Gaining positive energy.
• Gaining peace of mind as well as an inner peace.
• Strengthening our connection to self and others.
• Enhancing our ability to control our thoughts.
• Allowing us to focus on the positive things going on around us.
• Freeing our mind from annoying thoughts.
• Reducing worry, stress, and anxiety.
• Eliminating disruptive negative chatter.
• Increasing focus and concentration.
• Improving our memory.
• Doing things more efficiently.
• Enhancing creativity and decision making.

Some things we can do to declutter our mind include:

• taking care of ourselves; get sufficient sleep; exercise; take a break
• being intentional about where we place our attention
• finding out what doesn’t serve our better self and let it go
• practicing mindfulness
• meditating
• being kind to ourselves
• saying daily affirmations
• having an attitude of gratitude by focusing on the positive, satisfying and wonderful things in our lives
• accepting our current situation and finding the positive in it
• releasing fears, guilt, resentments, and grudges
• challenging the negativity and reframing the negative self-talk
• focusing on those things within our control
• being decisive; avoiding procrastination
• visualizing what is important and means the most to us; identifying our core values
• prioritizing the items from the visualization and working on them accordingly (instead of them just flitting around the mind)
• writing down all the floating thoughts; physically throwing away those that don’t serve a purpose in our lives; placing those that are useful in a journal and scheduling time to revisit them (rather than always thinking about them)
• scheduling time to worry (when worrying dominates our mind chatter and we can’t release it, we need to schedule a specific time to worry; this will help minimize worry mind chatter and not let it dominate thoughts)
• simplifying some things in our lives
• seeking perspective by talking to someone

Remember, when our mind is cluttered there is too much stuff stuck in our heads, stuff that we no longer find useful or that takes away from the pleasantness of our lives or robs us of making the most of each day.  Mind clutter wastes our time and drains us of positive energy.  Mind clutter diminishes our ability to be totally present which weakens our connection to ourselves and others. So, it behooves us to regularly work on decluttering our mind.  We have to be intentional about this and do it often – whenever we feel bogged down by the head chatter. Decluttering our mind is a lifelong task.  The benefits of mind decluttering are priceless and lead to us having more time to enjoy the present moment which leads to a much more pleasant life journey.

APPRECIATING OUR STRUGGLES

Most of my days and weeks move along in a pleasant, routine manner so when I encounter a week where each day holds many challenging moments, it is very noticeable.  I shouldn’t be surprised because in our life journey, we will all face challenges at some point along the way.  These challenges may come in the form of problems, difficulties, issues, obstacles, barriers, or hardships.  Some of us will work through each of these without a second thought.  Some of us, upon encountering the challenge, will turn to someone else to try and deal with it.  Some of us will view these challenges as negative events in our lives and let them overwhelm us.   However, if we take a breath, step back, move beyond any emotional reaction, and approach any challenges one at time, with some thought and creativity, we will be move beyond each and every challenge.

 Dealing with challenges reminds me of the following story:

 

One day, a girl came upon a cocoon, and she could tell that a butterfly was trying to hatch. She waited and watched the butterfly struggle for hours to release itself from the tiny hole. All of a sudden, the butterfly stopped moving–it seemed to be stuck.

The girl then decided to help get the butterfly out. She went home to get a pair of scissors to cut open the cocoon. The butterfly was then easily able to escape, however, its body was swollen and its wings were underdeveloped. 

The girl still thought she had done the butterfly a favor as she sat there waiting for its wings to grow in order to support its body. However, that wasn’t happening. The butterfly was unable to fly, and for the rest of its life, it could only move by crawling around with little wings and a large body.

Despite the girl’s good intentions, she didn’t understand that the restriction of the butterfly’s cocoon and the struggle the butterfly had to go through in order to escape served an important purpose. As butterflies emerge from tight cocoons, it forces fluid from their body into their wings to prepare them to be able to fly.

Just as the challenges the butterfly faced before hatching helped it prepare to have strong wings, so it is with us.  The challenges we face along our life journey help us grow and become stronger.  There is often a reason behind our challenges, one we may not understand at the time of dealing with the challenge.  But, if we are patient with ourselves and are persistent, we will find the strength that we need to deal with the current challenge as well as future ones.

We should appreciate any challenge, any struggle, along our life’s path because these challenges, these struggles offer us opportunities to:

Determine what is important and what direction we really want to take. The challenge really offers us an opportunity to make changes or improve on something.

Re-evaluate ourselves, especially our goals, attitude, behavior, and priorities.  The challenge gives us an opportunity to ‘reset’ things in our life.

Develop new skills, experiences, and knowledge.  Challenges often force us to grow in ways we never thought possible.

Take control and focus on solutions (rather than the situation/the challenge).  By doing this we do not give any power to the situation/the problem, but rather, give the power to working on solving and moving beyond the situation.

Learn how to enjoy the moment. Life is a series of highs and lows, but we can’t allow our lows to snatch our joy and dictate our feelings. Learn to enjoy every moment of every day despite what life presents. The more we practice, the better we will be at enjoying the moment. Focusing on solutions keeps our thoughts in the moment, and what we can accomplish in the now.

Trust ourselves to overcome future challenges.  If we can successfully get through whatever we are facing now, we can do it again with the next challenge.

Show ourselves that we can cope even when things are tough.  While the challenge may be tough emotionally and/or physically, our ability to get through it shows us that we do have the capability to persevere and cope.

Discover our inner strength and resilience.  We are stronger than we give ourselves credit and challenges show us just how much we can endure.

Relish in a sense of accomplishment when we overcome the challenge.  No matter how big or small the challenge is, getting beyond it brings not only a sense of relief but also a sense of accomplishing something.  Overcoming challenges makes us feel good and brings us joy.

Boost our confidence level.  Overcoming challenges increases the faith and belief we have in ourselves and our ability to handle whatever may come our way.

Feel empowered, motivated, and inspired.  The confidence we gain from overcoming challenges makes us feel more empowered and in control of our life.  The sense of control motivates us and inspires us to continue dealing with future challenges.

Be a role model for someone who may experience a similar challenge. Our actions and our growth may provide the inspiration for someone to tackle their challenge instead of falling victim to it.

Kemi Sogunle (author and certified life coach) said, “The tests we face in life’s journey are not to reveal our weaknesses but to help us discover our inner strengths. We can only know how strong we are when we strive and thrive beyond the challenges we face.”  How true is that?  If we can remember to appreciate our struggles, our challenges, we will truly discover what we’re made of. We all have something inside of us that is greater than any challenge that we may encounter on our life journey.  We do grow in some way from all of life’s experiences we face and challenges we overcome.  That growth in itself is a good thing!!

HANG IN THERE

If you’ve been following my posts for a while, you are aware that a pair of bald eagles have made their home in a tree on my property.  They’ve been with us for a little over three years now and have successfully raised two eaglets all three years.  (This year’s young ones are now seven weeks old).  Certain weather conditions present challenges for the eagles, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned from watching them, they know how to hang in there when the going gets tough.  This week we’ve had some wicked winds blowing day and night (some gusts have been up to 40 mph).  You can imagine what it is like for a grown eagle perched on a branch when a strong gust hits it. 

My topic for this week’s post comes about after watching this eagle family hang in there, day after day, despite the force of the wind.  I was also inspired by an acquaintance whose family is dealing with an unexpected event which has created a seismic change in their lives.  With this family, as with the eagles, hanging in there or remaining persistent when faced with difficult situations is what it takes to make it from one day to the next.  It is hard not to give up when times are tough, but with persistence and determination and a hang in there attitude one can keep going and holding on no matter how tough things get.

Hanging in there is persisting.  When we persist, we show dogged determination, tenacity, and perseverance.  No matter what we are facing or how we feel about a situation, we refuse to give in or give up.  Interestingly, facing a challenge is a prerequisite for having to hang it there; for having to persist.  And, as we know, we will all face challenges along our life journey.  We all face situations where we might feel like giving up; that whatever we are facing seems too overwhelming to go on.  (And, on our life journey, in situations where change is sudden, unexpected, or unwanted it is very easy to just want to give up.)

Hanging in there, persisting, is an important life skill.  When we get overwhelmed by what is happening or paralyzed by being forced out of our comfort zones, it is easy for us to lose sight of where we are going or to lose motivation for what we are doing.

Persistence helps us overcome limitations, challenges, or obstacles by:

• Sustaining our motivation and confidence.
• Moving us beyond resistance to our situation.
• Enhancing our ability to be resilient.
• Helping us become resolute to move forward no matter what.
• Strengthening our determination and drive.
• Maintaining action that help us produce results.
• Renewing our commitment to keep moving forward.
• Giving us the courage and confidence to continue on.
• Focusing our attention on what is important.

Our mindset has much to do with our ability to hang in there; to persist.  Our mindset consists of beliefs and beliefs are thoughts that are repeated over and over for a period of time that determine how we respond to situations.   And the longer we think that something can or can’t happen, the more we believe that thought and the more we act accordingly.  So, our mindset is very powerful.  To help us hang in there when times are tough, we need to get our mind in the right place and believe in ourselves. Author and writer Doe Zantamata provides solid advice on this when she says to tell ourselves:

• Everything will work out.
• Things will get better.
• You are important.
• You are worthy of great things.
• You are loveable.
• The time is now.
• This too, shall pass.
• You can be who you really are.
• You are strong.
• You can do this.

The next time we are facing a change or something that just overwhelms us and we feel like giving up, picture an arch rock in the ocean.

The power of persistence was never more evident to me that when I first saw Arch Rock in Oceanside on the Oregon Coast.  Arch Rock is named for its shape.  I would watch as the waves relentlessly pounded at the rock and wondered how something as soft and pliable as water could make a hole in something as hard and unyielding as rock.  It dawned on me that it wasn’t the water itself creating the hole but the persistence of the waves upon the rock.  The persistent wash of water upon the once solid rock carved it into a sight to behold. 

The force of the waves is in their persistence.  If the persistent action of something like water can alter a solid material, just think of what our collective and persistent efforts can achieve we when are faced with challenges or seismic changes.  If we hang in there we will be able to create holes in our challenges and overcome things when the odds are stacked against us.  HANG IN THERE!