"Don't worry.  Be happy." -- Bobby McFerrin

Alive & Well Archives

September 2002

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TODAY'S QUOTE:  "Live With Passion!"
                                                                -Tony Robbins

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TODAY'S TOPIC:  Let Your Passion Explode

Do you feel passionate in your daily life?  Do you do things because you love them, or do you do what you do because you get paid?  At the end of the day, do you feel you have given the day your best?

I was inspired to write this newsletter while watching a professional lacrosse game played by the Colorado Mammoth, Denver ’s National Lacrosse League team.  At the start of the game each week, the announcer calls out each player.  As they race onto the field, you can feel their passion and excitement.  You can see and feel their drive and desire to win. 

Of course, this is not unusual in professional sports.  What is unusual, however, is these players do not receive large salaries.  The average professional lacrosse player gets paid $14,000 per season.  All of them have second jobs, because they cannot make a living playing lacrosse.  Instead, they play because they feel passionate and love the sport so much. 

Each week, I watch their bodies take a beating, as other plays check them and sometimes injure them. Each week, I know most of them had to travel thousands of miles to get to the “home field,” because they are not paid well enough to live in Denver .  Yet each week, I watch them give it all they’ve got.  I watch their determination, energy and love.  I watch them push themselves.

As I watch them, I wonder, “How many of us demand so much of ourselves?  How many of us explode with passion when there is not money waiting for us?  How many of us show up week after week and give it all we’ve got?  How many of us have so much fun in our lives?” 

I suspect most people do not live with passion.  Instead, most people live on auto pilot.  Are you one of them?  Have you lost your passion, desire and love?  Do you give life your best – in your relationships, career, health and family?  Do you push yourself and feel the excitement that comes from that?  At the end of the day, have you given the day your best?

If not, I encourage you to awaken the passion within you.  Each of us feels passion for something.  I feel passionate about my health.  I drive to push my body and feel the love that comes from that.  I feel passion around animals.  Each week, I donate about 10 hours to my local animal shelter, because I feel so much love for the animals.  I feel alive there, and I push to make it better for them, despite getting no money for it.  I feel passionate about coaching and push myself to be my best for each client. 

What makes you feel passionate?  What makes you feel alive?  How can you push yourself to be better than you were the day before?  Listen to your answers and then go out there and engage in those activities.  Honor your passion, even if you get paid nothing to do it.  I promise you, your life will be better because of it.

If you are not in touch with what makes you feel passionate, or if you have pushed your passion aside, contact me today to get started on living with passion.    

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Coaching Challenge

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What makes you feel passionate?  What makes you want to push yourself to be even better?  Listen to the answers and engage in those activities.