The Passion Test – Living on Purpose

Have you ever, on a Friday, wondered what you were going to do over the weekend just to realize on Sunday evening that you ended up doing nothing? That your lack of planning or direction ended up wasting precious and valuable time? Of course, you were comfortable, rejoicing in your freedom, but at the end of day, this lost time adds up and you’ll never get it back.

That’s how I felt with my life for many years.

I spent much time wondering what I was going to do with my life, frustrated that I wasn’t going anywhere, that I wasn’t utilizing my potential in the way it deserved to be. I was 23 years old, a single mother of two toddlers, with no degree that would give me the job I needed to provide my young children with what they needed. I would lay awake and hope for inspiration, for a way out.

My first break came as I was in church one day and I realized that I wasn’t utilizing my talents. I had gifts that I was meant to use, and I wasn’t. It was as if I was saving them for later and life was passing me by. Then, my father passed away unexpectedly and I realized that finishing my degree “eventually” had to be now. Even though many people around me thought I was insane, I went back to school to finish my teaching degree.

That was a great first step in the right direction and for 7 years, I was happy. My children had a better future ahead of them and I felt that I was fulfilling my purpose. Until the feeling of missing the mark hit me like a ton of bricks once more. My inspiration this time around was going to be the Oprah Winfrey Show. Even though I don’t remember what the episode was about, I remember that she was talking to me that day, that she made me feel that if I focused on something, anything and I took action, I could get somewhere. I had always wanted to experience living and working in the United States, so that’s what we did. My two children were now teenagers and we uprooted our lives and moved to North Carolina where I taught for 3 more years.

Following one’s path is a tricky thing, or at least mine is. Again, I felt like I was now off course and needed redirection.

My inspiration was now going to be the empowering lessons found in self-help books. I started thinking about what I wanted to achieve, even writing down what my life would be like when it was ideal and daydreaming about it. I would go to bed at night and imagine myself living my ideal life. To my amazement, my dream job landed on my lap. My dream had been to combine my three passions: my (now grown) children, teaching and traveling. Here I was now, working for an international training company and getting paid to visit my kids. Who would have thought that it would be possible?

However, being on the road this much also had its drawbacks and after three years, I was getting tired of planes and hotels and my husband wanted his wife back.

Again, back to the drawing board! What did I want now? What did my ideal life now look like?

As I was looking for new opportunities and dusting off my old books, I realized that the tool I had used to attract my ideal job was the book The Passion Test. It had transformed my life, so, I thought; why not teach others how to do the same?

Many of us feel stuck in our job, our relationship, our physical condition, and our lives! The sad thing is that as long as we are focused on the negative, we will likely never have the life we want, the life we are meant to have. Why? Because we are keeping our attention on the negative, on the things that we don’t want! Have you ever noticed that whatever you focus on just grows stronger? Whether that is a headache, being annoyed with someone or getting up in the morning feeling blue, the more attention we place on the negative emotion, the more it grows.

If we want to create new situations and new emotions for ourselves, we have to focus on what we want, not on what we don’t want.

Simple enough, right?

If it was, then everyone would be positive and happy. The problem is that most people don’t even know what they do want; they keep focusing on what they don’t want. And what do they get? More of what they don’t want.

The first step in creating your ideal life is clarity; being clear about what you want to create. The Passion Test is a simple and very effective tool in doing just that. It helps to lay your thoughts on paper and become clear about what you truly desire. Your intentions are now clear.

What happens now that you are clear about what you intend to create? Life and people get in the way of course.

It is one thing to know what we want, but it is sometimes very hard to have the discipline to make it happen. Think of someone wanting to lose weight having to choose between sitting down in front of the TV for an hour to watch her favorite show or go for a walk. Being clear about our intention is one thing, but at this point, keeping our eye on the goal, on the desired outcome is crucially important. If we want to actualize our intentions, we have to also keep our attention on them, consistently and relentlessly choosing in their favor. Only then can we hope to achieve what we set out to accomplish.

We sometimes hear people say that “God will provide” and he might, but we still have to put forth the effort. If I have no money, all the prayers in the world but no actions aren’t going to be enough to put food in my belly. I still have to do what I can, on top of praying -which is also giving my attention to my desired outcome- to get what I need. I need to take massive action, everything I can think of to get what I want, and then, let go. Let go and let God, understanding that what I wanted to create might not be exactly what the actual outcome will look like, but trusting that once I open myself up to what is my true essence is, the world will realign, allowing me to fulfill my purpose.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————-