In my posts I try to share a thought/experience/story that encourages you to, what else, Choose a Better Life.  I hope that most of the time I am successful in reaching that goal.

However, today I have some questions for you:

Are you doing (whether through work or other avenues) what you really want to be doing?  Are you passionate about how you spend your time and the result that comes from that spend?

If not, why not?  What is holding you back?  Is it fear … fear of failure, fear of success, fear of the unknown?  Are you concerned with how others will view you if you make a change?  Are you letting current circumstances limit what you can do?

A few days ago someone said something to me that really resonated.  He said, “God will always give you what you NEED (He loves you too much not too), but you have to go after what you WANT.”

So, why are you compromising your passion and settling for mediocrity?  Why are you unwilling to take the risk to go after what you want?

I am planning to go on a personal retreat – 5 days with just myself, my Bible, my journal and my laptop – and have been asking myself similar questions in preparation.  And as I have been answering honestly some of my responses surprised me.

I realized I had allowed myself to be swayed from my heart’s true desires.  Even though the movement was only slight, it was enough to cause dissatisfaction and frustration putting me in a place that was less than desirable.

I admit that I am not completely ready to formulate a new action plan yet, I have a little more digging to do, but I have a wonderful start and I’ve gained some great insight.

Today, take a few minutes and block out some time on your calendar.  You may not need to take 5 days like me, maybe a few hours will suffice, but schedule time to be with yourself.  During that time ask yourself questions like the above and take an honest look at whether or not you are living with passion.  If not, ask yourself why and begin to look for ways to incorporate your passion into your life.  (If you need help discovering your passion see my post from May 17, 2007 titled Discover Your Passion.  )

Part of Choosing a Better Life is being deliberate in how we spend our time.  Let’s spend it on something that energizes us and gets us excited about the day.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 18th, 2007 at 1:13 pm and is filed under World of Work. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.