Friday Reflection: Chock-Full of Passion

 

Weekly Show Reflection:

Oh, today everybody is going to be chock-full of passion.

For those of you who are new to the show, Motivate Me! is a podcast designed to inspire listeners to incorporate a passion of some kind into their lives. We do this through the experiences of our guests. Our hope is that you can take bits and pieces from the passion, the experience, the wisdom, tools, and techniques of our guests and apply it to your life, to your own interests.

Today’s episode is number 179, and so, there have been well-over 150 guests for you to listen to and learn from, over 150 different passions, over 150 different circumstances and challenges that our guests have had to overcome in order to make their lives a life they love. Some guests have added excitement into their lives and some have added meaning. Some added something into their lives that they do on a part-time bases, and for others, it has turned into a career or a lifestyle.

I seem to have, unintentionally, become the Love Your Life Girl, because that is what I want more than anything: For all of you to be excited about waking up tomorrow because you are going sailing on the open sea, or you are planning a new performance as a hypnotist or mentalist; or your book is being published, or you’re hiking one of the mountains on your bucket list.

For my mom, it’s making quilts – she REALLY loves making quilts. She loves picking out the fabric, selecting the design, challenging herself with each one, bestowing it with love. My mom could be quilting at 3am, 4am, 2pm. She’s obsessed…and it’s awesome. We all deserve to have this kind of passion in our lives. Something that has us plotting and scheming, anticipating and creating.

This is something you are going to see so whole-heartedly in the guests of this week: their undeniable passion. So much so that I have selected a separate quote to represent each of these guests.

On Monday, I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with athlete Daniel Hayes. Daniel is obsessed with competition. This obsession not only landed him in the 2016 Summer Olympics where he will represent Trinidad and Tobago in the boxing arena, it has inspired him to find creative ways to compete well into his seventies. This is a twenty-something man with a serious plan. Even if athleticism is not your passion, there is much to be gained from listening to this episode. Daniel is a motivational speaker himself, and he really reaches out to you in hopes to inspire. The dedication and sacrifice it takes to earn a spot in the Olympics lead me to select this passage from Donovan Bailey for Daniel: “Follow your passion, be prepared to work hard and sacrifice, and, above all, don’t let anyone limit your dreams.”

I agree with Mr. Bailey, don’t let anyone limit your dreams – including yourself.

Tuesday, Gerdi Verwoert was on the show. Now, if you are someone stuck in a corporate job that you excel at but don’t enjoy, this is an amazing episode for you. Gerdi gives us step-by-step details about how she walked away from the monetary success she was achieving in the Netherlands to live her passion, which is being a mountain-hiking guide in Austria. She tells us how she did it, how long it took, what her strengths and her challenges were, and how she is doing now. That is why I feel the words of Sheryl Sandberg really represent what Gerdi is all about. Sandberg said, “We can each define ambition and progress for ourselves. The goal is to work toward a world where expectations are not set by the stereotypes that hold us back, but by our personal passion, talents and interests.”

Gerdi really had to battle the perfect sense her parents made when they were concerned about her pension and financial stability, but in the end, she chose what she felt her body and person was craving for instead.

On Wednesday Kat Ellis McIntyre was on the show. Kat is a Shamanic astrologer from Australia who had personal bar...