Garbage with Guilt – Getting a Grip on Wasting Food

By Aly Wagonseller

It’s dinner time and the hunt for suitable ingredients worthy of turning out a healthy meal has begun. You’ve been to the grocery store, perhaps even several times this week, but despite numerous half opened bags of salad mix, your refrigerator yields not one morsel of lettuce, tomato or cucumber fit for human consumption. A trip to the pantry isn’t much better–a disappointing co-mingling of nearly empty pasta packages, potatoes with rapidly growing eyes, and a half eaten Pop Tart that someone felt compelled to repackage in Saran Wrap.  Surely the extra freezer in the garage would comply, with its gargantuan, haphazardly torn open box of taquitos and enough freezer burned ground turkey to feed an army. 

Sound remotely familiar? You’re certainly not alone. We are a nation of food wasters, with inclinations to both buy and cook more than we need, improperly store what we do have and impulse buy to our heart’s content. It’s a habit with great cost to us, to those who live in poverty and to our environment. 

What’s the Big Deal?

Americans spend more than $475 billion annually at the grocery store, yet according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, up to one-fifth of that food, nearly $95 billion, is routinely tossed in the trash. That’s an awful lot of dough to fritter away on food that never made it past your taste buds, but it’s not just about you.   The reality is that according to the latest USDA Household Food Security Report performed in 2009, more than 250,000 Southern Nevadans struggle with hunger. National figures hover around 50 million people, largely children, that don’t get enough to eat, despite the fact that Americans throw away more than 33 million tons of edible food annually.  That’s enough viable food to not only feed those in need on a local and national level, but the entire globe.  

All this rotting food in the landfill has consequences on the environment as well.  According to a 2009 study done by the Environmental Protection Agency, unlike other garbage that is successfully being reduced by recycling efforts, food waste has doubled in the past 30 years, making up more than 20% of total trash sent to the landfill. Indirectly, the fossil fuels used to package and transport food, as well as more than 11 trillion gallons of water to grow and process it, are thrown away right along with it.  Add to this the methane gas and C02 emissions from decomposing food, mainly meat and dairy products, and you’ve got yourself a major contributor to climate change. Americans spend billions of tax dollars in an effort to find ways to conserve resources and improve upon the environment, yet food waste is a major offender that’s only getting worse.

What’s a Foodie to Do?

Of course we don’t waste food on purpose; after all, “cleaning  our plates” was emphatically encouraged  in the majority of Boomer and Gen Xer households.  But busy lifestyles, a lack of planning and “deals” that are just too good to pass up wreck havoc on reducing the food waste chain.  A few changes can make a big difference.

Get Real

How much you really need to buy and eat is a question that, when honestly answered, can lead to real progress.  Start by opening your eyes to everything you waste and when it’s being wasted.  Are you constantly throwing away spoiled fruit, vegetables and dairy products?  If so, it’s time to say no to two for one bargains and bagfuls of produce, opting for only the amount you can consume before your next shopping trip. Alternately, if you are routinely scraping extra rice, noodles and protein off plates into the disposal, progressively prepare one less serving than you’d normally make until you find a balance between satisfied diners and little to no food waste.  

Don’t forget restaurant and fast food visits either.  Most portion sizes are far too large for one person to eat on their own, and really can be shared. Unless you are absolutely certain that what’s in your doggie bag will enthusiastically be consumed as leftovers two days from now, consider ordering a smaller version or splitting the order with another family member.  

Get Organized

Taking time out of a busy schedule is difficult, but getting organized in terms of both purchasing and storing your food will prevent waste and save you money. Start by cleaning out your refrigerator, pantry and freezer section, grouping food items in a logical manner so that they’re easily visible.  Consider purchasing various sizes of see-through containers for organizing everything from refrigerated leftovers to dry goods like pasta. They’re particularly useful for snack items like potato chips or crackers that otherwise get tossed due to mangled packaging that can’t be resealed. Invest in cabinet organizers and pull out shelves to provide easy access to food in deep pantries. Once you’re working with a clean slate, institute a few rules to keep things in check.

• Plan meals weekly and around staples you know you have on hand. Do not rely on memory! Take a short inventory prior to shopping to prevent buying something you already have.
• Be honest. If you know a busy schedule will necessitate picking up fast food two days a week, only plan and buy enough for five days of cooking.
• Only purchase bulk items that you know your family can eat before the flavor is diminished.  If you must purchase meat in bulk, make sure it can be eaten within a month or two, and that it is properly wrapped for freezing.
• Routinely rotate older food to the front of refrigerators, freezers or pantries. Keep tabs on quantities and expiration dates so that these foods can be utilized in recipes in a timely fashion.
• Be aware of, but not overly zealous about expiration dates. A “best if used by” date does not necessarily mean a product is destined for the trash bin.  Use common sense, sight and smell to determine freshness.

Stick to your guns; only purchase what you really eat, buy far less of it, know where to find it and use it before it becomes stale.

Get Techie

Did you know that if you store your cottage cheese upside down it will stay fresher longer?  Or that if you need only a few drops of lemon juice, piercing the fruit with a skewer rather than cutting it in half will keep the lemon from drying out?  Easy, yet impactful ideas like these can be found by doing a Google search on reducing food waste. The websites www.wastedfood.com, produced by Jonathan Bloom, author of American Wasteland, and www.supercook.com are great for finding information on anything from how to keep your food fresh to recipe ideas with what you have in your pantry.  Give it a click to find ways that work for your family and lifestyle.

We’ve made huge strides in recycling our cans, glass and paper products. Still, we continue to litter landfills with groceries that not only create environmental stress but could be utilized for those in need.  It’s not a simple fix, nor can one person do it all, but with some effort, we can all give food conservation a try.  

Buying Less Really Can Help

So how does purchasing only what you really use in terms of perishable food items help those struggling with hunger?   After all, you can’t just donate that half empty carton of milk to the food bank, right?

Actually, in a round-about way, you can. Three Square of Southern Nevada, an organization that collects food for nonprofit and faith-based charities that serve the hungry, has rescued more than eight million pounds of food and groceries that otherwise would have gone to waste. Via their Food Rescue Program, Three Square picks up daily donations of fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy products that are close to code but still edible from collaborating stores including Albertsons, Smith’s and Fresh & Easy. They then provide the food to their partners for distribution to those in need. Think about it when you’re tossing that second bag of rotting spinach you acquired on a two for one sale into the trash can. If you can’t eat it before it spoils, someone else who is hungry can.  Visit www.threesquare.org for more information.

Dream It, Write It, Do It – Making and Fulfilling a Life List

By Michelle Vessel

Grocery lists, wish lists, to-do lists–sometimes it can seem like our busy days are all chock-full of high-priority tasks that only add to our sense of feeling frazzled, rushed and pulled in 20 different directions at once. Ever thought about making a list that could help you escape the crush of everyday responsibilities and achieve a greater sense of perspective and purpose in your life? That’s exactly what a growing number of life coaches and personal development experts are suggesting: a tool known as a ‘life list’.

The concept is popping up everywhere. Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman explored the subject with plenty of mischievous wit in the 2007 buddy flick The Bucket List. Then, in 2009, renowned life coach Caroline Adams Miller published Creating Your Best Life: The Ultimate Life List Guide and, with the help of her co-author, a respected clinical psychologist, provided scientific evidence to back up her claims that life lists can help average Joes and Janes realize even their wildest dreams.

Help or Hype

In light of the overwhelming enthusiasm surrounding life lists these days, it may be tempting to blow them off as just another wacky self-help craze. Besides, what’s the point of putting all of your wildest dreams down in black and white? Isn’t that just setting yourself up for inevitable disappointment? Well, yes and no, according to Steven Danish, P.h.D., professor of psychology, preventive medicine, and community health at Virginia Commonwealth University. This exercise can “help you learn to be goal-directed, or it may leave you confused because you don”t know where to begin.” However, most life list proponents say that the mere act of thinking about what you want and narrowing your desires down to a manageable number of tangible goals will give you a head start toward happiness and fulfillment.

The real challenge lies in distinguishing between tough but achievable goals and unrealistic pipe dreams. For example, if you’re 55 and have never sung a note in public, it’s unlikely that you’re going to be able to cross “star in a Broadway musical” off your bucket list anytime soon. On the other hand, it’s definitely within your power to sign up for singing lessons and plan to stage a recital at next summer’s family reunion. The scale of the accomplishment might be somewhat more modest, but the sense of satisfaction that you’ll derive from the experience won’t be. What matters most is the process of giving your heart’s desire a name and then working gradually toward it.

Drafting Your Life List

It’s time to roll up your sleeves and explore what you want to accomplish, understand, or experience before your time here is up. There’s no wrong way to go about the process of compiling a life list; in fact, experts say that the success of the exercise will likely depend on the degree to which you can make it personally meaningful and unique. Some life-listers like to set aside a solitary afternoon or weekend to brainstorm, making meticulous notes in a journal before settling on a final list. Others collect crumpled notes-to-self, ripped-out magazine pages, and other sources of inspiration in spare moments over a period of weeks or even months. 

No matter which approach you take, experts usually caution that it may take longer than you expect to feel comfortable with the process. So much of our attention and mental focus is funneled into day-to-day tasks and responsibilities that it can take a while to get back into the groove of dreaming big. It’s important to give yourself the time and space necessary to really get flowing with the life list process. After you’re satisfied that you’ve dedicated enough time to the brainstorming process, create a written copy of your life list. Whether it’s typed into a computer file, handwritten in your secret journal, or scrawled on a cocktail napkin that you carry around in your purse, your life list needs to be a physical artifact that you can access and look at to remind yourself of your goals.

Tools, Themes and Cool Examples

So maybe you like the idea of creating a life list, but the prospect of sitting down with a pen and pad and waiting for inspiration to strike doesn’t exactly sound like your cup of tea. Or perhaps the traditional “things to do before I die” approach strikes you as morbid. If so, don’t despair; there are plenty of angles from which to approach the process of creating a life list. Here are a few out-of-the-box ideas to help you get started.

Virtual Inspiration: If you’re the plugged-in type, SuperViva.com allows users to create public or private life lists. And if you find yourself stuck for ideas, you can browse other public lists for inspiration (or just to satisfy your curiosity). If SuperViva.com doesn’t float your boat, 43Things.com offers a slightly different take on the same concept. 

Themes: If you already have an interest in a particular hobby or leisure activity, you can use it as an anchor. For example, bird-watching enthusiasts have long used the concept of the life list to keep track of the rare species they have spotted or want to see in the future. Use activities like travel, food, museum-hopping, dancing, surfing or skiing to create a life list that will have more personal meaning for you.

The Granddaddy of All Lists: In an essay published in a 1993 edition of Chicken Soup for the Soul, explorer John Goddard recounted the experience of sitting down at his family’s kitchen table at the age of 15 and drafting a wildly ambitious life list that included goals ranging from exploring the Nile to climbing Mt. Everest. The kicker is, Goddard actually went on to accomplish many of the goals he set for himself as a teen. You can check in on the octogenarian’s continued progress at www.JohnGoddard.info.

A Lady’s Way: San Francisco-based writer, online-shopping mogul and blogger Maggie Mason has honed life-list-making into a fine art. Her current quest to taste 1000 different fruits and document the process landed her in a recent issue of Gourmet magazine. Other items she’s crossed off the list this year include overseeing a massive food fight in a San Francisco park and signing up for tap dancing lessons. Check her out at MightyGirl.net.  

One more word to the wise: although life lists can be an excellent tool for helping you define what you want out of life, it’s important to remember that they don’t have to be set in stone. What you think you want when you’re 15 or 25 is likely to change as you gain more experience and perspective. The best life list is one that reflects the ever-changing nature of life itself and, above all else, helps you make the most of what poet Mary Oliver called “your one wild and precious life.”

Sensational Holiday – Experiencing the Season Through Five Senses

By Lisha Ross

Jingling bells, emerald firs, sugar, spice and everything nice; the holidays are all about the sweet crescendo of sensory experience. Millions of tiny receptors on and in our eyes, nose, ears, tongue and skin send chemical signals to our brain where the information is compared to memories and interpreted. The mechanics are the same whether you’re 8 or 80, but as most of us get older our emotional response to sensory stimuli changes. We begin to associate the sound of holiday music piping through the department store speakers, not with awesome new toys, but with massive credit debt; the smell of baked goods with guilt about not making our own. Worse yet, after repeated stimulation we tend to lose or ignore those lovin’ feelings we get from truly indulging our senses.    

This year, make a pact to rediscover the magic of the holidays by living through your basic senses: sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. You did it without even thinking about it as a kid. The smell of fresh coffee wafting through the house on Christmas morning let you know it was time to open presents and sent you reeling ecstatically to the tree. That first taste of grandma’s home-made molasses cookies made you forget the world. The jingle of sleigh bells made you wonder, When will Santa be here? instead of, When will it ever end? You can reconnect with all those warm and fuzzies; you just have to take the initiative to slow down, relax, and take in the holidays one sensation at a time.

Santa’s Ol’ Factory

The human nose has 20 million smell receptors located in the limbic system and amygdala–the same part of the brain where emotions are born and memory is stored. That’s why simply getting a whiff of mom’s sage stuffing or baked cinnamon apples can easily stir up strong emotions and vivid memories of joyful childhood experiences in the kitchen. Let your nose lead you to good times gone by! Fill the house with fragrances, whether by baking or via scented candles and potpourri. When you sit down to a big meal, take a few moments before digging in to pull in the aroma. If the smell of pine gets you in the mood for caroling, stop by the tree each day for a good, long inhale. Not baking? Fill a sauce pan half full of water; add orange rinds, cinnamon sticks and some cloves and let it simmer, refilling with water as it evaporates. Find a fragrance that speaks to you and let it fill the air.

Touchy Feely

Though less is known about the connection between touch and emotion, research by Yale, Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggests that what we touch can have subtle effects on our perception. Sitting in a hard chair, for example, or touching a rough jigsaw puzzle made test subjects more likely to perceive people and situations in a negative light. Of course the reverse is also true, and merely stroking a soft kitten or holding hands with the one you love can warm the hardest of hearts. Put it to the test yourself! Curl up in a velvety soft throw and cup your hands snuggly around a warm mug of hot cocoa to wind down from a long day of running holiday errands. Hug your family members a little longer than usual. Give the gift of massage to that special someone; you might discover that it’s just as pleasant for you at it is for them.

Sight for Sore Eyes

For children, the sights are what bring holiday whimsy into a tangible reality–the lights, the colorful presents, the miniature train set going round and round. As adults, by the time we get all the decorations out of storage, the lights untangled and the village assembled we’ve already lost the thrill of it all to exhaustion. How quickly we forget just how easily an aesthetically pleasing scene can get us in the mood for…whatever! Take some time to sit in your most lavishly decorated room and appreciate your handy work for what it is–a masterful work of art. Turn off the TV and dim the lights. Just sit quietly and adore the scene. Liven up your dining room table with seasonal flowers; add fanciful garnish to your serving platters; gaze at your bounty of food as you take in the aroma. Look at photographs from your favorite family album and notice how much the children have grown.

Sound Off…or On

You don’t need to know a lot of scientific mumbo jumbo to understand how much sound affects our mood. Loud noises are startling, sometimes upsetting. On the other hand, something as uplifting as laughter alone can put a smile on one’s face. Music has been known to stimulate and stir emotions, while singing is like a massage for the soul. Listen to holiday music, the old classics along with new favorites as you open up presents on Christmas morning. Sometimes even the childish songs from your youth can spark up warming nostalgia. Stop talking! Listen to the chatter. Watch a funny flick with the fam or play an exciting game of charades and as laughter rounds the room, close your eyes and just listen.

Tasty Tasty

The jury is in! Sweet foods and those hearty, comforting meals, in moderation, can improve mood and alleviate stress. All those taste buds send signals to the reward center of the brain and POOF! You’re smiling, happy and having a love affair with that peppermint chocolate truffle. Activate your sense of taste by chewing slowly; move it around your mouth and take note of the texture. Try to identify all the subtle flavors in all that you eat, whether it’s salt water taffy, wine, figgy pudding or mashed potatoes and gravy. Smell is intrinsically linked to your enjoyment of food. Try eating a piece of candy first by pinching your nose closed, then eat the same candy after taking in its sweet aroma–you’ll find the flavors all the more enticing. 

Take some time to live, eat and breathe through your senses this holiday season. Relish in all those marvelous nuances you get to experience just once each year. You might find yourself walking in a winter wonderland, even when you’re stuck in a long line at the supermarket.

Beating the Odds…Setting Goals You’ll Actually Accomplish

By Michelle Vessel

Whether it’s a new year, your birthday, the first of the month, or even just another Monday, most of us know what it’s like to be bound and determined to make a positive change in our lives. The bad news? According to one study recently published in Psychology Today, the vast majority of these well-intentioned self-improvement campaigns wind up falling flat. Nearly one-quarter of those who set goals abandon their efforts within a week, 40% give up after a month and 60% have fallen off the wagon by the 6-month mark. Two years down the road, more than 80% of those who set out to make a change have failed. While the statistics might be discouraging, there are still a small percentage of people who do successfully turn over a new leaf. You could be one of them; it just takes careful re-evaluation of goals and a plan.

Goals that are Doomed

Most people–and even some self-help experts–chalk up the abysmal failure rate for resolutions to a simple lack of willpower. You probably could have lost the 20 pounds you vowed to…if only you didn’t have to pass that pastry shop on your way to work everyday, right? Not exactly. Recent studies about motivation and behavioral change suggest that it is often the kind of goals we set, rather than how we pursue them that ultimately determines our success or failure. In other words, the reason why you weren’t able to ditch your diet soda habit last year may not have been the irresistible siren song of the vending machine; the problem may have been the way you formulated your goal.

According to psychologist and life coach Caroline Miller, many of those who make a serious effort to change their lives ultimately falter because they set the wrong kind of goals. The worst culprits? Goals that are vague, open-ended, overly broad, unrealistic, negative, or that focus on being something rather than doing something are all more likely to result in failure, Miller says.

SMARTer Goals

So how can you steer clear of this all-too-common pitfall and create goals that are designed to set you on a course for success? Believe it or not, one of the most popular models for setting well-designed goals is borrowed from the world of business. In a now-famous 1981 article published in the journal Management Review, a group of professors proposed the SMART system as a method that companies could use to establish realistic targets for improvement.

In the years since it was first introduced, this concept has come to be applied in many different fields, including self-help and personal growth. You can use these guidelines to create SMART goals that will actually support your efforts to affect positive change in your life.

Specific. The more detail your goal contains, the closer it is to being a workable plan of action. For example, rather than vowing vaguely to lose weight, aim for something more concrete, such as exercising at least four times each week or eliminating junk food.

Measurable.  Whenever possible, opt for goals that can be counted or measured in a specific way, such as reading 20 books in the next year, or turning off the television after one hour. This approach makes it much easier to gauge your success and fine-tune your approach.

Attainable. One surefire way to set yourself up for failure is to aim too high. Rather than vowing to compose and publish a great American novel in the next six months, begin with a less daunting step, such as taking a community college course in short-story writing.

Relevant. Set goals that mesh well with your overall sense of yourself and your larger purpose in life. For example, if you want to get involved in volunteering, seek out a role that relates to your career skill set or an issue you care deeply about, rather than just falling into the first opportunity that comes down the pike.

Time-Bound. One of the best ways to ensure that you’ll achieve your goal is to impose a hard-and-fast deadline. If you plan to train for your first 5k race this year, register for an event in your area, circle the date on your calendar and lace up those running shoes before you can talk yourself out of it.

Now What?

You’ve spent some time brainstorming and soul-searching to figure out what it is you really want to accomplish and then you applied the SMART framework to translate your dreams into workable goals. What’s next? According to the experts, the single most important factor that will determine whether you’ll stick with your self-improvement efforts over the long haul is whether you can maintain a degree of momentum and forward motion. The best way to do this is to create structures and routines that will help you incorporate the goal into your every day life, even when the going gets tough. Here are a few ideas to help you parlay your aspiration into a lasting lifestyle change:

•    Keep a journal. Buy an attractive notebook, diary or daily planner and use it to track your daily work toward your goal. Being able to check your progress at a glance is a great way to build momentum.

•    Tell your friends. Use social media tools like Facebook or Twitter to let your friends and family members in on your efforts. Post status updates when you make a breakthrough, or even when you’re having a hard time. The support you’re sure to find can be enough to help pull you through a rough patch.

•    Reward yourself. In the early stages of planning, set up a system of rewards to reinforce your hard work and celebrate your progress. As you reach each milestone on the path to your goal, honor your achievement with treats and indulgences like a day at the spa, a girls’ night out, or an outfit from your favorite store.

•    Make a mental movie. Experts say that one of the most powerful motivational tools you have at your disposal is visualization. Spend some time imagining in great detail how you will look, feel and act when you achieve your goal. Create a short scene that you can replay again and again in your mind when the path towards your goal gets rocky.

•    Don’t forget to make a backup plan. As we all know, even the best-laid plans often veer off-track. In order to ensure that a temporary setback doesn’t cause you to throw in the towel, a contingency plan is a must. For example, if your goal to use the elliptical machine for half an hour every day is foiled by an injury or illness, turn to gentle yoga while you recover.

Setting a goal and taking concrete steps to succeed at it may be one of the toughest–and most gratifying–things you’ll ever do. Even when life gets in the way and your motivation hits rock-bottom, you’ll be much more likely to see your self-improvement efforts through to the finish line if you have a structured plan in place. Armed with these tools and tips, you’ll be able to stake out and stay on the path to lasting change in the weeks and months ahead.

Getting Back Your Groove Thing

How Finding Your Passion Can Keep You Sane

By Hana Haatainen Caye

Ever wake up in the morning and just want to stay in bed? You can’t put your finger on it–things aren’t all that bad–yet still, you just can’t get excited about facing another day in the craziness known as your life. Kids, the economy, laundry, rising grocery prices, work…all the things that must be dealt with. All the things that hijack your energy and keep you from being the vivacious person you used to be. There is no crystal ball, and you have very little control over the world around you, but you can do something for yourself. Something that will help you get your groove thing back while staving off depression, bitterness and unhappiness. It’s finding your passion. And whether you have time to indulge a little or imbibe a lot, plan on doing it for fun or choose to make your newfound activity a career, finding your passion can make a difference in how you look at life…and yourself.

A Recipe for Happiness

The hit movie Julie and Julia, a story that parallels the lives of famed chef and TV personality Julia Child and Julie Powell, a then obscure and slightly depressed blogger, illustrates just what can happen when you find a passion that’s life-changing and contagious. One that the movie’s producer Lawrence Mark proclaimed was “a passion for food that got them through tough or uncertain times.” They might not have known it when they started, but their exuberance for food turned into an exuberance for life; an avenue for finding out who they truly were, and a way to accept themselves in spite of their faults and failures. It gave them purpose.

You may not become famous like these two women, but finding your passion does have benefits that include:

• Reduced Stress – Becoming passionately engrossed in an activity takes your mind off stressful events, thereby reducing high blood pressure, fatigue and other stress related illnesses.

• Living in the Moment – When you engage in a passionate activity, the mind becomes so occupied that the past and future become non-existent. You are simply in the now, much like practicing meditation or mindfulness, but with a tangible outcome.

• Increased Self Esteem – You’ll find an amazing reserve of strength just behind that wall of fear you’re knocking down, as well as a renewed sense of accomplishment that helps to build confidence in all aspects of your life.

• Renewed Optimism – Because you enjoy what you’re doing and see positive outcomes, you believe you can succeed. You are in control and making things happen. This optimism translates to other areas of your life, helping you to cope when things are beyond your control.

Who Cares What Others Think

If finding a passion is so beneficial, then what keeps us from going for it? Aside from perceived time and economic constraints or just plain apathy, there are a number of roadblocks you must overcome to truly find your passion.

Fear

Going out on a limb is easier for some than others, but allowing fear to keep you from purposing your passion is, quite simply, giving fear entirely too much power. Try taking baby steps towards your goal. As you conquer small advances, take on greater ones, all the while justifying the risk with the reward. Ask only that you do your best and be happy that you tried. With each small triumph, you’ll empower your resolve, and fear will eventually diminish or be done away with all together.

Resentment

What good does holding onto the past do? So what if you’ve been wronged, suffered setbacks or aren’t in the best physical shape of your life. Letting go of “what ifs” and “if onlys” will serve to free up your energy to move on to positive, can-do scenarios. Moving forward in a passionate activity has a domino effect; one that focuses on where you’re going, not where you have been.

Conformity and Rationale

Our parents meant well, but times have changed. People don’t work the same job for a lifetime, retiring with a bank account full of money saved, a tidy pension and the free time to drink lemonade on the porch. Being laid off is a coin toss in our society, so finding something you love and making money at it may not be far fetched. Explore your options and move accordingly. You might not start out looking for a passion that produces a paycheck, but don’t discount it because it’s not the norm. Compliance doesn’t necessarily lead to happiness, especially when it means depriving yourself of what you were born to do.

Making it Happen

As Alan Alda stated, “You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.” In order to discover your passion, you have to be ready to leave your “city of comfort.”

Brainstorming

Get started by getting to know what it is you really like to do. Find a spot where you will be undisturbed for about fifteen minutes and, without thinking, write about what excites you and makes you happy. Ask yourself, what job would I love to have or what did I love doing as a child? Focus on what makes you feel alive and stress free.

Continue the exercise by listing five to ten things you would love to do, then number them according to how much you would like to be doing them right now. The items that rise to the top of the list create a good springboard from which to execute a passionate dive.

Reel in Your Prospects

Look beyond your inner and outer obstacles and be suspicious of any limitations you set upon yourself, but be realistic! Blind people cannot be airplane pilots and senior citizens cannot run for Miss America or become major league baseball pitchers! Determine what it is you love to do, evaluate each activity from a pragmatic standpoint and act accordingly with the knowledge that this is a viable activity worth spending time on.

Take a Trial Run

You’ll never know if you’re truly passionate about something until you try it. Find ways to practice by volunteering for an organization centered on your quest, taking classes on the subject, or joining clubs or leagues associated with your chosen activity. These are excellent ways to give your future aspirations a trial run. As you dig in deeper, be honest with yourself. Is your passion becoming a burden, or do you look forward to it more than the day you started. The answer will determine if it’s right for you.

Is a life of passion really within reach? Absolutely! Keep at it. Embrace the challenge. It may just be the very thing you need to jump start your life, get back in the groove and find what was lost but never really gone….and that’s you.

Jump start your journey with a little help from those in the know.

• Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose, by Matthew Kelly

A key to finding lasting happiness in a changing world.

• The Passionate Life A Common Man’s Guide to Getting Everything You Want Out of Anything You Do, by Mitche Graf

Filled with practical tips on how to live a life of purpose and meaning.

• The Passion Test: The Effortless Path to Discovering Your Destiny, by Janet Attwood and Chris Attwood

Interviews with people who are successfully living a life of passion.

• Living Big: Embrace Your Passion and Leap into an Extraordinary Life, by Pam Grout

Focused on breaking long-held, self-defeating patterns and living big.