The air is crisp, the forest green and this is a beautiful fenced-in area. Sambura runs the cage. He is a beautiful majestic alpha wolf who runs in circles within this man-made cage. With piercing blue eyes that can see right into the very soul of a man, he looks for an opening. And Sambura runs. The new home provides plenty of food, water and medical care. People are here to take care of him. Yet Sambura runs. He is here for his own good. And Sambura runs. The sound of his powerful paws hitting the earth over and over again are almost drowned out by the dominate drumming of his heart beating in his chest - a heart that cries out for freedom. Samburas mind races at the speed of his repetitive pace. This highly intelligent, powerful and graceful animal never falters. He intensely keeps watch for an opening to slip through. With his tongue hanging out, constantly dripping saliva on the well worn path, Sambura runs around and around and around. Sometime over the next few weeks, no one knows quite when it happened, Sambura loses his intensity. His head is lowered and he now runs with his tail tucked between his legs. His eyes lack the sparkle of excitement they had once shown. This confused, agitated and highly stressed beautiful gray wolf wants only one thing, to follow his heart. He wants to do what he is good at. Sambura wants to follow his passion, his natural instincts. He will adapt to the new environment, but he will never thrive within it. Each day the fire in his heart will glow less and less, until it is just an ember. The fire is always there, haunting him. If set free to follow his heart, the fire will return and burn brightly once again. Until that day, Sambura runs. Do you sometimes feel trapped? Does your heart ache for the time when passion drove you to great things? Do you seemingly have everything a person should want and yet you are not happy? When is the last time you felt truly free and happy? Can you remember? Often times we allow ourselves to get caught up in the daily riggers. Our life is full of details, dates, time commitments, and promises we must keep. We often run on autopilot and it feels like our parents, partners, society, children, friends and even our families have more control over our lives than we do. You feel confused, stressed and agitated, as you long to ignite your ember of passion once again. So, what is the answer? Its time to let out a primal scream! Where is the happiness?!? you cry out. How can we live bold, live out loud and stop repressing all the passion that exists inside of us? How can we feel the rhythm of our heart beat again? It is time to take control of your life! Please understand Im not going to tell you to quit your job, get a divorce, leave your family or run away to some exotic island. That decision is yours! I will however, suggest that you dig deep inside yourself to find that ember that still burns and ignite the flame once again. And the following tips will send you on your way to finding it. Step One: Beginning Your Treasure Hunt 1. With a tablet and pen/pencil, find a comfortable, quiet space where you can be totally alone for at least an hour, without interruption. If you can be outside, all the better. 2. This means you turn off: TV; stereos; iPods; radios; etc. I mean it, turn them off! 3. Now, with the tablet and pen nearby, close your eyes. Take five deep breaths. Breathe in all the way, expanding your chest and belly. Hold it for a count of five. Then let the air out very slowly. Feel your body melt into relaxation. Do this a minimum of five times. 4. Keeping your eyes closed, picture the last time you can remember really feeling happy. Where were you, how old were you, what were you doing, was anyone with you, was it night or day, were you inside or out, was it rain or shine? What part of this picture made you happy? Was it what you were doing, who you were with, what were your surroundings? Keeping your eyes closed, look to the left and right. Take it all in. 5. When you feel every essence of this picture throughout your body, slowly open your eyes and begin writing. Write every detail. Dont worry about spelling, grammar, or punctuation. This is not about the writing; its about capturing the picture. You may find that when you begin to write, you remember more details than you saw in the initial visualization. Thats just fine, keep writing. When there is nothing more to write, turn the page and 6. Repeat Steps 3, 4 & 5. Keep repeating these steps until you cant bring any more to the conscious mind. Step Two: Opening Your Treasure Chest 1. These written pages describing your pictures of happy times are truly treasures. They are you at your happiest moments in your life. If you were to look at each one from a thirty- thousand foot level, without emotion, can you see any similarities between the pictures? Maybe you were always out in nature. Or always running, dancing and playing. Maybe you were playing sports or always part of a team. Did you find yourself exploring and having new exciting adventure each time? Possibly you were always by yourself, just being peaceful and becoming better acquainted with your thoughts or nature? There are no wrong answers. This is all about you and what makes you happy. 2. On a separate piece of paper, list the different aspects of the stories that brought you happiness. I enjoy being by myself in nature/I enjoy fly fishing/I enjoy long walks by myself - can you see a trend? I enjoy white water rafting/I enjoy parasailing/I enjoy riding my motorcycle yet another trend. Or I enjoy family picnics/I enjoy spending time with my friends/I enjoy neighborhood block parties. Step Three: Holding On To The Gold Now that you have visualized your happiest golden moments and identified what specific parts of these memories made you the happiest, its time to ignite the ember within! 1. How do you integrate your passion into your daily routine? Maybe you enjoy travel and you are a great salesperson. Is there a position that would allow you the luxury to travel on someone elses nickel and see the world? Do you enjoy being alone outdoors, but dont want to upset the family by going off by yourself. Could you plan a weekend trip for yourself and a get-away with the spouse or family? Be creative. Arrange for some tradeoffs. Create a win-win for all. How about joining a league to play your favorite sport? Or sign-up at the local craft center to use your creativity that is crying to get out. 2. Use your mind to figure out ways to embrace your passion, instead of all the reasons why you cant do it. Change your life style to fit your passion in daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or even yearly life. Just making the plans and taking the steps to implement passion back into your life will make you feel much better. The ember starts to smolder. To ignore it will stress you out and create a great deal of anger inside. To take action allows you and everybody around you to benefit, as you are happier, more relaxed and more focused about all that you do. Its all about you! You are in charge of your life! Are you planning your upcoming conference or seminar and would like to book Deborah as a speaker? Please visit her web site at: www.Dynamic-Wisdom.com or contact her at: 480.346.1155 to hear more tips on how you and your members or employees can turn fear into motivation. 2006 Dynamic Wisdom, LLC. By: Deborah M. Dubree. All Rights Reserved. This article may be reproduced only with the permission of the author, author credits, and the inclusion of this paragraph: Deborah Dubree is the Owner & CEO of Dynamic Wisdom - a business owner who rose through the ranks within the construction industry from receptionist to CEO. She accomplished this by learning and utilizing practical methods on how to focus and maintain attention - while juggling multiple top priorities at the same time. She acknowledged her passion and took the steps to materialize it. You too can take advantage of her time-proven and unique pragmatic steps. |
