I mentioned in my last post that my luck has not been so good lately. As the saying goes, “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.” At least, that’s how it has felt. So, when I saw a workshop titled, Love Your Life, I thought, “I should probably take that.”
Love Your Life is based on a book, The Passion Test, by Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood. The gist of both the workshop and book is to help you gain clarity on what you are passionate about. This is achieved through an exercise where you identify 10 things that would make your life ideal. With the help of a partner you narrow it down to five through a questioning exercise. You then set goals or markers to achieve those five items.
While I found that part of the workshop interesting, identifying my passions has never really been my problem. The second half of the workshop was about commitment and overcoming obstacles. I found this very interesting because I often get distracted from goals because of life circumstances and-this is hard to admit- fear.
Our facilitator, Christina Loggia, had us write down our negative self-talk. Then she had us “re-language” these sentences into something more positive. As a writer one of my fears is that no one cares about what I have to share. I re-languaged that negative statement into “the right audience finds and appreciates my work.” I felt my mood shift when I read this new statement. Feeling better about it, somehow, made it seem more possible it could be true. Affirmations are not new to me but I had never made one that was so goal-specific before. It was like a little fear-seeking missile!
My other big takeaway from the workshop was about committing the time and energy to achieve what I am passionate about. Christina shared with the group that one of her passions is yoga. She said that everyone in her life knows when she practices and teaches yoga and that they know better than to ask her to do something during those times. I have been very sloppy when it comes to setting boundaries around my passions. I intend to change that going forward.
The last point I wanted to mention was that I realized nothing has to be achieved overnight. I think I have been inclined not to set goals in the past because I didn’t think I would have the time or financial resources to achieve them. Our society is so inclined toward instant gratification, it can be hard to work toward something if you don’t when exactly it will come to fruition. Christina gave an example about trying to sell her house and how it was taking longer than hoped. It doesn’t mean it will never sell. It just hasn’t been the right time yet. The important thing is to stay clear on what you want even when success seems elusive.
