Rural Leader Magazine RL MAG NOVEMBER 2017 | Page 4

Discovering Your Life’s Passion
By G. Eric Allenbaugh, Ph.D.
“Twenty years from now,
you will be more disappointed by the things
you didn’t do than by the ones you did.
So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the tradewinds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Mark Twain
  What is your life’s passion, and are you “on
purpose?” Have you clearly identified your talents
and interests, and are you applying those to their
fullest potential? When you align your gifts and
interests with what you do in life, you move from
surviving to thriving.
  By discovering, developing, and directing your
gifted areas, you experience making a positive –
even joyful – difference in both your inner and
outer world. Inside, you experience enhanced self
worth and greater life fulfillment. What you attract
from the outside reflects what is going on inside.
  When you are “on purpose,” appropriate resources
and resource people are frequently drawn into your
expanding sphere of influence. You can achieve
more with a greater sense of ease. Resources,
interestingly enough, tend to follow a dream.
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But the dream has got to come first.
“I am my message.”
Gandhi
  When you do what you love, you never have to
“work” again. Some wonder: “How can I earn
a living doing what I love to do?” Making your
avocation your vocation is a key to experiencing
passion and fulfillment.
  One man, for example, loves to back pack. How
can one earn a living backpacking? Through explor-
ing his passion and letting his limited thinking go, he
ultimately became a field researcher for a major man-
ufacturer of outdoor products – testing new products
while backpacking. A woman in my own city who
loves to shop formed a personal shopping business
for busy executives – and is making a comfortable
living. A man who loved music created a band
that performed on weekends while he continued
to work his regular job. Remember, it is the
experience you are seeking, and that experience
of following your passion can take many forms. The
options are limited only by your mind.—
“Life doesn’t happen to you.
It happens from you.”
Mike Wickett