Follow your Passion

A very wise woman once told me that every step that we take will lead us closer to where we are meant to be. Think about your life and how you view yourself and where you ended up. You may be a stay at home Mom or Dad or a high powered business person or a even an airline pilot in Bahrain (Hi Richard). Whatever it is that you do there were many steps that led you there. My friend Richard always knew he wanted to be a pilot. From the time he was a wee lad he had a love for airplanes and flying. Some of us were not that lucky and it took awhile to find our true passion or maybe we haven't even figured out what it is yet.

It really doesn't matter what it is, when you find it you will know it!!! I can attest to that big time. I have worn a lot of different hats,from a stay at home Mom to a business owner and many menial jobs in between. I have now found the one thing that really makes me happy and was lucky enough to discover my passion when a friend (the same very wise woman I referred to in the first paragraph of this blog)mentioned to my now employer that she should hire me because I would be a perfect fit for her business. My friend than called me and told me to get my resume and cover letter together and get my buns down to my now place of employment because she put in a good word for me. At first I was not interested and thought it would just be another job but when the lady met with me and actually agreed to hire me I soon realized that I was very mistaken. From the first day I felt like I was in my "Happy Place". It made me want to take courses so I could be the very best at my newly found profession. I know with every fibre of my being that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life and with this discovery realized that I am also very good at what I do. It actually comes naturally to me.

When you talk to your teens about what they would like to do for a career be open to whatever they tell you, even if it is working a minimum wage job serving customers in a restaurant, it really doesn't matter. Accept what it is that your child wants to do and realize that if they love what they do they will probably excel at it and that job as a server could turn into being that owner of the very restaurant that they used to work at. Even if that doesn't happen, if they are happy doing what they do you should support them and tell them how proud you are. There are many Dr's and Lawyers who hate what they do for a living and would rather be baking cakes or working on a lobster boat but they were pushed into these professions because they were pushed to follow in their parent's footsteps. Would you rather have a physician who had a passion for healing or one that was in it for the money, or God forbid because they were pushed into it because they wanted to please their parents?

Happy Parenting

Monicka

Finding Your Child's Passion :))

The other night I watched a docudrama about Jean-Francois Champollion the French Scholar Linguist who was the first person to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics. Even as a child of eleven Champollion had dreams of visiting Egypt and discovering the secrets of the ancient Egyptian writings.

I was thinking as I watched the program how dedicated Champollion was to his goal and the white hot passion he would have had to have to keep the dream alive for so many years. Sadly, Champollion died in his early forties but his dream to visit Egypt came to fruition. He was known as the Father of Egyptology and is best known for deciphering the Rosetta Stone.

In most cases as a child ages he starts to lose passion for the things he loves. We as parents and caregivers need to ask ourselves what we can do to keep that passion burning in our children's hearts and minds? Maybe not to the extent of Champillion but research from the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of "Flow" finds a direct link between passionate interest and true happiness. So it is important to help keep your child's dreams alive.

Watch your child when he is playing. See what he is drawn to and what makes him happy, keep in mind these will change as he gets older. Try exposing him to different cultures, museums, art, sports and other activities. Look at your child's strengths and interests. Let your child be an individual by not making him participate in the same activities that his siblings are involved in, unless he really shows enthusiasm for it.

Finally, it is very important not to impose your dreams on your children for that is a sure fire way for them to lose interest