Happy Valentine's Day Tomorrow, Passionate People
Don't live life without having lived a passion for something bigger than you.
Passionate. Capable of, affected by, or expressing intense feeling and enthusiastic and ardent”. Websters
Not everyone is satisfied to live a pedestrian life. Many don’t coast, they reach. Do. They’re passionate about something. Whether they’re 20 or 70, they try to make the most of every day they have on this planet. Teri’s Doing It! is about seizing the day, carpe diem before it’s too late. It’s about them and it’s about you.
I’m intrigued by passionate people. What drives them and how do I get me some of that? I write (and more recently have started a podcast) about these. Their stories inspire me to keep reaching, keep doing. To live with no regrets. I hope they do the same for you.
What I’ve learned is that passionate people weren’t content with the status quo. That they carried and nurtured a seed that sprang forth when they pursued what interested and moved them. Did they like to ski? To knit? They did it. Like to hold abandoned babies in Romania? They did it. To garden? They did it. Ride cutting horses? They did it. They didn’t care how old (or young) they were or how much money they had. They overcame obstacles and inertia. They overcame the words of others, of doubt and often, themselves. They felt an itch, scratched it, and it felt so good they kept scratching.
How do we become like them? We don’t have to go to Africa, we don’t have to start making soup for the homeless. We don’t have to walk across a country barefoot either, unless any of these move us. All we have to do is yield to the possibility that we can be passionate, get curious, and then take a step in that direction. We can surround ourselves with inspirational stories. We can crack open the door to becoming. To expanding our comfort zone a step at a time.
I know you can do it. Your seeds are inside you. Take today and think about it. Heck, take as much of the rest of your life as you dare, but think about it. And then do it!
Almost a year ago I asked you for one-word descriptors of yourselves. Within the heart on this page beat your answers. Ask yourself, what are you seeking? What elicits kindness and compassion? What are you determined about, driven toward? Why are you joyful? Each of these may be an indicator of where you will find your passion but first, be curious. Why did you choose that word? What interests, what moves you? What have you been doing that you’d do even if you never made a dime off of it?
On this day before Valentine’s Day, I give your words back to you and I give you this key: be passionate. Take that step. Then seize what interests you. Inhabit it. Be it.
Happy Valentines Day tomorrow, passionate people! You can do it.
Teri
Thank you for reading Teri's Doing It!, this free newsletter celebrating the stories and art of being passionate about something larger than yourselves. If you enjoy my newsletter and podcast, it would mean the world to me if you’d invite friends to read too. Thank you!
What a great reminder! Thank you!