What Ignites Your Passion?

As women, we take on so many roles in our lives – mother, partner, wife, daughter, insert job title etc. We often begin to do this at time in our early to mid 20’s when we are still very much in the process of discovering who we are as adult women. Most of the roles that we assume are focused on meeting the needs of others, and so finding out who we really are can inadvertently take a back seat. Also, didn’t most of us think we had it all figured out back then? Oh, how cute and naïve we were.

Then “KAPOW”, we find ourselves in Mid-life – a time of change and often uncertainty about where we go from here. The beautiful thing about this time in life is that we are given a second chance to discover the person behind all the titles and roles we have assumed over the years. What makes us happy? What ignites our passion? What are our priorities and non-negotiables? The only difference this time around, however, is that there are a few more layers of crap that need to be excavated to answer these questions. Starting this excavation in midlife can seem daunting because you have no idea where to start. Some of our roles fall away naturally, like kids leaving home etc., and others require conscious action to change.

The key is to start small. Baby steps. Find small things that ignite your fire… a good book, a new place, a new hobby, or even just spending time alone. After having stood at the base of this mountain not too long ago myself, I have leaned heavily into the motto “Chase the feeling”. Find what feels good and keep doing it. Bliss leaves clues, as they say... or maybe that was success… but whatever it is, one thing leads to another, and you would be amazed at how quickly the layers begin to peel away. What’s one thing you could do today or even this week that feels good to you?