Steve Jobs was 56. If work was his passion, then I'd say he lived his life brilliantly! If anything else was his passion, then I'd say he failed miserably. He gave his life to his work, which is not uncommon in our culture. And 56 is not old. Steve Jobs might have believed that he would have more time. But he didn't. How about you? Are you living with passion today? If you had 56 years to live, how many years more or less does that give you? Would you finish fulfilled, and content with how you had lived? What are you giving your time to? Does it add joy and meaning to your life or is it a drain and meaningless? "Got stress?" What activities do you engage in that contribute to or reduce your stress? These are some important questions worthy of considering if we want to find our passion and live with purpose.
My passion and purpose is people. I am a mom of four boys, a lover of life, and an observer of all things family and relationship-oriented. And I love spending time in nature. I find it rejuvenating. I take a daily walk to process my stress, enjoy the quiet, get some exercise, and prepare mentally for my day. Many observations have been made on my morning walks. An observation comes to mind regarding living with purpose. I have noticed that the people smiling and waving at me a good majority of the time are NOT the ones driving the fancy, shiny, expensive vehicles. In fact, I get the most enthusiastic waves from the golf course maintenance workers. Truly contented smiles and waves. And no, they are not after me! And secondly, I get eye contact and waves, and sometimes even conversation, from the individuals who are out working in their yards. Thirdly, I get mixed-friendly acknowledgement from others who are out exercising as well. Mostly the walkers and bikers. Although some of the exercisers seem to be under undue stress - mostly the runners. Some runners even look like they are in pain and about to die. I used to worry about them and then I took up running for a while. Now I completely understand. But I digress... Back to my observations. I receive little to no interaction from the people driving cars. The people in cars seem to be rushing to get somewhere else. They largely seem irritated.
I have been taking an hour outside walking 5 days a week for about 4 years now so these are not casual observations. I often find myself wondering, if someone does not have the reserves to look another human being in the eye and smile, what might be going on in their life to prevent it? I try to approach this type of situation with compassionate curiosity. And I decided a long time ago that it is not about me, so I smile and wave anyway, even if they are stoic. One time, a golfer waved at me and hollered hello from a distance with the enthusiasm of an old friend. It was such a gift. He may have thought I was someone else, sure. But it was still refreshing! So now I choose to be that person and wave and smile anyway.
SO consider this today...if your had one more day or one more year, or a decade or two or three, are you living in a way that supports your passion and your purpose? Or are you driving to work so stressed that you do not make eye contact and wave to another if you pass in close proximity? If so, are you satisfied living with disconnection and overwhelm? If not, it may be time to consider making some adjustments. I will close with one of my favorite quotes: "There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. -Anais Nin So as they say, Carpe Diem!
