Vol 2 Iss 10

Have you noticed the birds? They’re crowding the trees and making first attempts at gathering together to fly south for the winter. The trees have started to turn and the mornings are a little crisp. It’s coming…

For many, winter is a time of endings. It’s the end of summer sun, tank tops, sandals, and late evenings outdoors. Time to start thinking about icy roads, broken pipes and cold noses. Of course, there’s also hot chocolate, good books and a nourishing soup bubbling on the stove.

Winter beckons us to reconsider our lives. We are drawn into our souls just as we are drawn into our homes. Time for a good look around. Are you living the life you were meant to live?

I experienced another ending yesterday. A friend and colleague of mine passed away last month and it was her wish that we throw a party for her. She was 46 and the mother of two beautiful daughters. It was interesting to witness her legacy – more on that in the article below – and to celebrate her life of passion.

It makes me grateful to have a full life doing things I love, coaching my clients, working at a university, taking a class to learn new things. Looking forward to new ways to stretch myself. And to be with those I love, my children and grandchildren, friends and colleagues. And to love my clients.

If you are curious about what may capture your passion, please contact me for a complimentary session. You were put on this earth to live your passion.

P.S. Thank you to those who asked about my mom in Louisiana. The week before she turned 87, she drove herself 4 hours to my brother’s home outside Shreveport to escape Hurricane Katrina. When Rita came, she refused to run away. The only thing she complained about was not having coffee on Saturday morning because the lights were out.

I’m traveling to Lafayette in January for a visit and to drive through my old stomping grounds in Beaumont, Lake Charles and Lafayette. I may have more to say after I see the damage.

“Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born.”

Passionate Living

Robin Carrington is the reason I give my coaching away to women on public assistance. She was the Director of Project Work Together (PWT) at Workforce Boulder County. PWT is a service that matches volunteer mentors with “welfare moms” in Boulder County. She recruited me to develop and run a similar matching program for coaches to provide a different kind of service.

I didn’t want to. But when Robin started talking to you about mentoring and the difference it can make in people’s lives, your heart started beating faster. Her enthusiasm for her work was infectious. So I was in. The project for me lasted a year. For Robin, it was for life. Now that she’s gone, we can see how huge her impact really was.

Have you ever been around someone who was passionate about their work? I mean, really PASSIONATE (!). Think about what it was like being in their presence. It’s like there is a magnetic field that forms around them. Even if you have no idea what they are talking about, you can’t pull yourself away.

I worked for a Chemistry professor once who was like that. He would show up for work every morning practically clicking his heels. Actually, he still does. He’s at the forefront of nanotechnology at age 67 and still going strong. Most of the time I had no clue what he was talking about, but I am convinced that he will win a Nobel Prize for his work from sheer passion alone. There’s that magnetic field again.

That’s how passion works. You love something so much that it enflames you and you light up everyone around you.

So how do you ignite your passion? It’s just like anything else, it takes attention and action. Attention to notice what is interesting to you and action to feed the flames. You start small and keep feeding the fire. It will catch, or not.

For example, a former client of mine was interested in learning Spanish. So she started taking lessons. Then she got a tutor. Then she spent 5 weeks in Mexico in an immersion study. Now, she’s planning to move there to open a recycling plant. When she started with the Spanish lessons, there was no intention to move, let alone start a huge project in another country. She just caught on fire.

Start with the spark of interest. Notice it. Think about it. Read something about it. Talk to someone about it. Do something about it. Challenge yourself to do something bigger. Then bigger. If the flame gets stronger, keep feeding it. If you burn out, then go to the next interesting thing. Better yet, have several interesting things going at once.

It wouldn’t be interesting if there weren’t some spark of passion in it for you. You wouldn’t be drawn to it if there weren’t some lesson to learn.

What’s stopping you?

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For the full listing of workshops, visit http://www.forwardmomentum.com.

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"By Debra DeVilbiss, CPCC, of Forward Momentum, LLC. Please visit Debra's website at http://www.ForwardMomentum.com for additional articles and resources on creating your right livelihood."

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