Picture courtesy: Boston Globe

Good Morning Achievers!

Today we will be discussing around, Passion. It is a very vague topic but I will narrow it down to one simple question: 

"What are you really passionate about?"

This article may be inspiring to young students as well as career persons. I have personally enjoyed delivering coaching classes to several managers and young students about being passionate and it has been revealing to many amongst them. So, happy reading!

I always wrote about passion, but what acted as a catalyst to write a blog about it was while I was reading "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success" by Deepak Chopra. In this little book, he so marvellously describes how one's success ultimately depends on the respect of 7 simple principles; here referred as "Spiritual Laws". They are namely; Pure Potentiality, Giving, Karma (Cause and Effect), Least Effort, Intention and Desire, Detachment and Dharma (Purpose in Life). Throughout, we can sense how a lot of importance is given to desire, which I believe is that flame that burns within us all the time, even when we think it has long gone.

There are also many beautifully written books that speak about this reality of the universe and we cannot but sense that passion in the main denominator in all of them. Today, education has become accessible and affordable,  and to the great benefit of everyone, we can obtain a solid qualification at any age in whatever field we like. This has permitted many individuals to build a career path and become successful.

However, this is even more amplified when education collides with passion. For instance, a child should not study only to be instructed. A teenager should not attend college only to pass exams or adults should not obtain degrees only to have a career. It is indeed, a must to be instructed and educated but that is not the end. Education is only a means to an end.

The end is to have a continuously lasting success in that field.

A career can be stopped at any time. Any-time. You may be made redundant at work due to cost-cutting. You may even start finding your job unappealing for so many reasons. The company may close down. Therefore a specific post in a specific organisation may not be the end.  It is just a means to go further. But where is further?

"Further" is where we feel that we are "fully" satisfied, where we have we have reached our peak. But know that for each individual in this whole world, there is a unique "further" and a unique "peak". What is an ultimate satisfaction or success for me, may not be the same for you. People who have studied or read about Management/Psychology may be familiar with Abraham Maslow's pyramidal hierarchy of needs. He argues that a human being has 5 main needs beginning with Physiological (food and shelter), up to Safety (employment  and health), Belongingness (family and friendship) Esteem (achievement and respect) and lastly at peak, Self Actualisation, which is what I call "further". Here, the person feels fully  satisfied morally, creatively and has accepted many realities of life. But, even Self-Actualisation is not completely an end in itself since, as a human being we have infinite potential within therefore we must always thrive higher and higher. But what will take us there?

Passion will.

If you are a business-owner and you are running your business only for the money and the profit, and deep inside, you are projecting dullness, stress, frustration and dissatisfaction towards the entity everyday; it will give you all these back in tenfold. If it does not make you jump out of bed with excitement every morning to kick off your day, then you may not be passionate about it. And you will find that you will always have a rocky road towards an ultimate success. In fact, even after years, the ultimate success will still seem quite far away.

This can most definitely apply to any other endeavour, be it your studies, work, relationships or health. We must be passionate about our education if we want to obtain that degree and not just do it for the sake of our reputation among our families and friends. Just by being passionate about it, the rest will follow through. We must be passionate about our family, for it to be strongly and happily bonded. We must be passionate about our health to always breath in and out good health. And yes, we must be passionate about what we do for our living in order to obtain maximum success and achievement from it. Financial stability and honour will follow through with least effort.

With an ending note, ultimate success or self-actualisation itself is never ending. Once we are at the top of the mountain, we will want to climb higher. That is simply how the human being functions. But then don't look for that further outside in the world, look for it within yourself. You will know you have reached there, when you will no longer desire anything and you will simply be satisfied with inner peace and what you have around you. 

Think about how passionate you are in your life? Are you passionate about everything you do?  If not, it's time to ignite that passion and do what you are really passionate about.

The universe will shower you with endless happiness and success until you want it to.

Keep Shining!

It's Monday today! And so I write on a theme that has really touched me lately, while drinking my tea and eating my pain au chocolat. Today we'll do some thinking around what we call, "letting it go". 

So enjoy this article!

You must have observed that nowadays, an increasing number of psychotherapist incorporate spirituality in their therapies through many spiritually inspired techniques. If not, try doing some research about this, you will come across amazing realities. When I say spirituality, I do not necessarily mean, religiousness. Spirituality means positive thinking, peace within the mind and a feeling of personal growth and satisfaction.

As our societies across the world go through gnawing dissatisfaction, disease and loss, individuals are caught in spirals of dismay leading to stress and depression be it in their personal or professional lives. Workplace can be very challenging especially where little attention is given to a proper work-life balance. Ultimately parents are having to work harder since the cost of life has elevated. In this situation, children are having to cope with long absences from their parents or a presence that is not enough.This vicious chain goes on and I am sure that we all know the outcome since we witness how our world today is highly affected.

Stress, anxiousness, anger and depression related illnesses have been rising high and it has become normal to consume painkillers and other antibiotics. With figures showing an increase in stress-related illnesses the world has come face-to-face to an ugly reality.

That it is sick. And medication is not necessarily the answer.

   

Nowadays, human beings are thirsty for natural healing to avoid dependence on medication because firstly, it costs and secondly it is not pleasurable. Therefore, we have all moved towards what we commonly call natural cure. In natural healing, there is zero side-effects. It may not be a session where a person places his/her palm on the affected area and pulls out the pain, although, this does exist. What I mean here is the practice of deep relaxation and the release of negative thoughts.

You will ask how. 

And I tell you by not being a sponge. By not absorbing negative feelings. People are rough, deceitful and unfair let them be. Reminds me of the Beatles: "whisper words of wisdom, let it be...!"

Defend yourself, yes, but don't put yourself in an uncontrollable state, where your BP rises. Yes we are humans and we cannot be 100% neutral. I can't for sure. There are so many things that hurt us to the core, such as the loss of a loved one, betrayal from a spouse, not being given our due at work and we are right to mourn or brood over the situation because that is very normal. Actually after a shock a person goes through normal 5 stages.

The first, is shock, we are simply frozen and are unable to react. The information has not seeped in yet. Second is denial, saying, no that's not possible. Third you realise, acknowledging that yes, this is really going on in my life. Then fourth is acceptance, where you accept that it has happened now because that's just the way it's meant to be. And then lastly, you let it go.

Some of us go through these stages quicker than others, but this does not matter. What matters is that at the end of the day, we must be able to release the pain, the anger or the regret. We must be able to let it go. There are ways for squeezing all these out of ourselves. It is called the art of letting go. Practising simple steps of relaxation and the art of forgiveness helps us recover from anything that has struck us.

I have personally gone through two very difficult situations in my life where I was depressed and totally lost. For months, I was void within and could not picture my future at all; but I had to pull myself out. I thought to myself that, if I want to really keep enjoying my life with smile and happiness, I, and only I, have the full responsibility of "waking up" and realise what I must do, to get me out of this. And trust me, in these situations, you are alone. No one can help you, even if they sincerely want to. No matter how hard they will try, only you can help yourself. Until and unless you don't put your will in it, you'll remain in it.

Once I heard from someone, that, God created different  people and personalities to make one world. We were not born with the same faces and characters. Therefore we are bound to come across people and situations we don't like. But that's how the world is, and if we want to live in it, we'll have to deal with it. And that is, without harming ourselves.

There are so much we can say around this, but I guess this is enough to let our mind do the rest of the thinking. Don't forget to comment your opinions and share this with your friends if you've enjoyed it.

Book to read: The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfilment of Your Dreams.