What Do You Do During Tough Times?
Do you have a hard time figuring out what you are passionate about? It was hard for me too.
This month though I found a new way to find it and although the circumstances are not what I would wish for anyone, everyone has tough times at some time in their lives so this might work for you too..
My mother who is 96 came down with bronchitis at the end of September. Two days after the doctor had diagnosed her she got worse so I called an ambulance to take her to the hospital.
She spent a week in the hospital sleeping most of the time. She woke only for meals or to say hello to me when she became aware that I was there. She was extremely weak and tired.
The next week they moved her to a rehabilitation hospital and diagnosed her with pneumonia. It was another week before we saw any signs that she was getting better.
Recovery has been very slow. All that time she basically slept and ate a little-mostly slept. There was only one other thing that she consistently did each day and that was the daily bridge game in the Boston Globe and the ones in the New York Times on Monday and Thursday. Sick as she was she managed to muster up enough energy to do that and then go back to sleep. Clearly she has a passion for bridge.
Needless to say I was concerned about my mother and so I stayed at the hospital 5 or 6 hours a day. The only things I attended to were my client calls and writing my newsletter.
From these two activities I got amazing relief from the stress. Once I began a call or started to write everything else vanished and I could think about only what I was doing. Other activities did not hold my attention. That is why I had over 300 messages in my email in box!!
So if you are having trouble finding what you are passionate about, look at the kind of things you find pleasure in even when times are tough and you have a huge problem in your life. Look for something that you enjoy like bridge for my mother and writing and coaching for me. It will be something that absorbs in a way that makes you forget your troubles-something you want to continue forever and that makes everything else bearable.
Thanks for this. It is a great example of passion displayed during tough times.
Talk about tough times! We have a front page story in our local paper about a charity that supplies medical equipment consisting of mostly wheelchairs to this community of Niagara, Canada. Gary Taylor and his wife work together refurbishing equipment to be either sold or given away depending on the circumstances. They have been at their location for a year and now the city wants to raze the buidling to make room for a parking lot for a new police station. He is at the mercy of the public and a possible generous landlord to help him find a spacious location with cheap rent when they get their notice. Citing a lawn bowling group in Niagara-on-the-Lake getting a $250,000 grant, Mr Taylor can’t understand why financial help from Ontario is lacking. Taylor claims his company is saving the government thousands of dollars by providing help to local folks with real needs. He helps March of Dimes, MS Society, the Legion, The Salvation Army, and the Red Cross. Taylor who is an amputee is determined that For the Needy Not the Greedy will continue to serve even if he must do it from his own backyard. Also a great example of passion for your work! I will be following this story.