In life we are constantly chasing many joys and dreams that we are desperately trying to fulfill, the joy of being happy is one of the trickier things which eludes most of us. With life now constantly being set at a frantic pace for most of us, the sad truth is that we have very little time for ourselves. Society is breeding a culture of productivity, and we forget about everyone else, including ourselves, within that setting.
The thing is, we often don’t spend time to take care of ourselves, both physically and mentally. Instead, we choose to live the life of the rat race, trying to build our lives and build a stable future. We don’t stop to realize what we really need for our own health – we need to change that and what we need to do is spend time to realize our own passions and how to go about fulfilling those passions.
Most of us have plans, dreams, a bucket list but we are consistently coming up short. We want to be happy, we want to exercise, we want to be the best looking versions of ourselves, we want peace and stability, but most of all we all want to be passionate about life. All of that sounds like a lot of work doesn’t it? Sadly, the burden of looking after everyone else and all the other things and responsibilities that are in life and which surround us tend to take a massive emotional and physical toll on us and what should be at the very top of our own priority lists often slips to somewhere near in the middle if not the bottom. Such is the irony of life nowadays; that while the goal is seemingly personal fulfillment, most of what we do in our existences does anything but that.
However it is time to change that. Now. Not yesterday. It is time to yank control from the clutches of responsibilities that burden us and force ourselves to take control of our lives, our passions. Most of all we need to start considering our own health and all the paradigms that that cover our mental, physical, and sexual health. It is time we started thinking of ourselves first, making sure that we are in the optimum condition to handle the crazy pace of what call the normal days of our lives. It is time to stop ignoring the pleading calls from ourselves for help.
Most of us realize the necessity and urgency to do exactly this, they think of it often and it can stress and depress them, but many are at a loss as to how to actually do it. It seems that for many of us trying to get the perfect balance of addressing most of the personal issues together is difficult at best. Some of us will try to fulfill our passions but at the cost of ignoring the mental and physical aspect of self-improvement. Others will work their hardest so that they achieve their perfect lifestyle that they think will bring them happiness, but won’t address the mental fatigue and stress associated with life. Still, others will go after mental Zen and inner peace but will fail to address the physical challenges they also need to overcome. We seem to be in a state where we are hitting some of the targets, but ignoring the others – what this means is that we may think that we are happy, but we aren’t necessarily feeling the max passion of life.
Many self-help books will attempt to charter a path through the chaos and the mess of life that they always promise will work. However, one thing we can tell you is this- in this case one size doesn’t fit all. We are all individuals within society, and individuals do not have a single common formula which will work for everyone. What person X may need to do Person Y may have already done and found that it didn’t work, yet for person Z might have achieved it with relative ease and vice versa. It’s like the law of attraction – for some people it works and others it does not – you have to believe.
So to fit a person who is unique from the rest of us in every aspect in to a common formula and expect it to work is naïve at best. Of course, in the nature of humanity, there will be common themes, practices, devices tips and tricks that do work to a point. However, a path to self-improvement will have to be intricately individualized – by a method of trial and error.
You need to be healthy-mentally and physically to pursue in life what you are passionate about. In a similar vein you need to be of sound mine to be aware of what your passions are. Too many people spend their lives in a haze blissfully unaware of what they are working towards and what they really want, they just exist. It is so easy to get caught up in the fabric of our daily lives that we forget what we want and end up singing and dancing to the tune of others which fully obscure the source of our own pleasures. Separating the thoughts between what we do for others and what we should do for ourselves is of vital importance.
While it is indeed dramatic to claim that many people spend their entire lives in a haze, it is not farfetched to claim that most people don’t exactly know what they are passionate about or what they want to achieve in life. For those, the best advice is to be yearning to find out their passions, try new things, explore and live. The aim is to be passionate about discovering their passions – as paradoxical as it sounds, I realize the irony, but it is a healthy approach.
You have to push yourself to discover what drives you before the mind and the body cannot cope with the lack of drive that you should have had a while back. You should give yourself the chance to be thoroughly aware of the flame that ignites your very soul but also be very much in control lest that engulf you. It is not a question to be or not to be but more of how to be and how far to go.
The culmination of self-improvement is anyone’s guess at best. For many it’s a lifelong journey – a continuous chase after an ideal life but for a whole host of others it’s the final touchdown in the long game of football. For those people seeking tangible results for their efforts they should look towards actually achieving a sense of relief after truly fulfilling what they were passionate about doing. It’s the peace of looking back at life with a heartfelt sigh and beaming at their own achievements.
For others it is about the everlasting journey and the passing of the baton forwards, to someone else who will keep the flame of their passion alive, for some that is their children, for others it is their coworkers or friends that they have gained along the journey. It is the idea that passions can be shared, that some are bigger than just our own existences and that they require continued effort to be truly realized. The passing of the baton is almost ritualistic because it will symbolize that you have succeeded in the lighting the flame of your passion into someone else. It is the satisfaction that your life long journey will be continued in the fashion that you always dreamed it. It is the coming around a full circle. It is passion.