“There is no passion to be found playing small—in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
Years ago, when I first started my passion journey, I had the idea to write this book. I could clearly see the title: Unwrapping Your Passion. The problem was that, at the time, I didn’t know very many people living a passionate life. I knew the time wasn’t yet right to begin the book. So I wrote nine other books instead.
One day, I reached out to Kevin Hall, the author of Aspire, with my dilemma. He told me to dive into the path and that people would appear in my life to help me. If you remember from the first chapter, he shared a Joseph Campbell quote:
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.”
Shortly after he said that, the first person I interviewed, Pete Gluszek, showed up on the last seat of the very next flight I took. He left a job as an environmental engineer to become a pro fisherman. Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many, many people living passionate lives.
I had the opportunity to meet Kevin for the first time when I attended his Genshai Life Mastery Experience in Utah. The event took place at a beautiful resort deep in a canyon. We spent three days and two nights intensely immersed in the learning process of sharpening our path and our purpose.
One evening, we were treated to a concert by Romayne Wheeler, a pianist, composer, writer, and researcher who is best known for life and work with the Tarahumara people in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.
The high walls of rock amplified the piano notes beautifully. Passion and bliss were etched into Romayne’s face as his fingers danced across the keys. The hours and hours and years and years of honing his skill at the piano were evident in the joy and wonder that I saw on people’s faces around me. The beautiful music was a gift to everyone there.
That’s what happens when you step into your passion. God has made you so beautifully unique that there is no one else just like you. When you deny yourself a passionate life, you withhold your gifts, skills, talents, and abilities from the world.
You may have noticed at the very beginning of this book that it is dedicated to Patti Phadke. Patti and I shared a love of books, so we met up every six weeks with the BookHands book club composed of deaf women in the Chicago area.
During one book club meeting, we discussed the topic of happiness. The book that month was What Happy Women Know. One by one, we went around the room discussing our passions and big dreams. What would it take for us to be happy?
“We have to choose to be happy,” Patti said.
Happiness is present when you are living with passion and serving your purpose.
Patti’s passion was so clear: her passion was being a mom. Patti was a mom of four kids. There was no time to waste since her days were filled with school activities, sports, and homework. Patti believed her purpose and her passion was motherhood, and she loved every aspect of it. She was blissfully happy and content being a mom.
“Okay, so when the kids are grown and on their own, then what will your passion shift to,” I persisted. “What’s a big thing you want to do, or a dream that you have?”
“Perhaps work on an organic farm in Maine,” she said since she liked to garden and grow fruits and vegetables.
A few years later, Patti reached the empty nest stage. Her last kid went off to college, one daughter became engaged, and the family welcomed two new grandchildren from another daughter. Patti took a teaching job at a college. Life was humming along beautifully. One day, Patti went to the dentist and mentioned that she had a sore in her mouth that didn’t seem to want to heal.
A biopsy revealed some startling news: stage four cancer. Patti spent a lot of time with her family and extended family as she went through treatment. The treatment seemed to be working as the tumor was shrinking.
Then one morning, she woke up and the tumor had multiplied. There was no stopping it now; it spread with a vengeance. Patti was in tremendous pain at times, but she powered through it, determined to stay strong for her family.
We held our last BookHands meeting at my house and included the spouses. Patti only had days left to live, but that night, she was full of energy. We decided to do something fun and each of us took turns asking silly questions that we all had to answer. For four hours, we laughed and learned new things about each other.
I am so sad that we no longer have her beautiful presence on this earth. I miss her. Patti was an amazing mom. Motherhood was everything to her—she found her joy in small ways and big ways—and she embraced that path with passion. Patti taught me that passion doesn’t just have to be the fire in the belly—passion is also the quiet nudging of the heart. We just have to listen.
The impact of a book is always a hit or miss with readers. Some walk away thinking, “I finally finished it.” Others yearn for more—they don’t want it to end.
I hope you close this final chapter with a satisfied smile and the eager anticipation of passionate days ahead. It would break my heart if you were to close this book and settle back into a ho-hum routine again. As you learned earlier, passion is both a feeling as well as a way of living. Choose in favor of your passions and joy will certainly accompany you on your journey.
The average person goes to his grave with the music still in him, Oliver Wendell Holmes tells us. Share your gifts, talents, skills, and beautiful energy with the world. Go through your life journey with passion and bliss as your companions.
It is my hope that the words in this book have touched you in a way that inspires you. I hope you wake up each day with the intention of living in joy and contentment. I hope you live with passion.
Passion is energy. At any given moment, you can choose to tap into it. Passion is the gift within you—unwrap yours.