OK, here’s a secret: I’m 44 and have already spent SO many hours of my life doing things I love. If you start counting, how many hours did you spend this week on YOU and something you really like doing? If you can count them on one hand, GET MOVING on putting yourself and your passions up the top of the list (how did I know you have a to-do-list? Well, don’t we all?).
I love singing, I always have. From when I was a kid, in choirs, bands, musicals, you name it. Most women stop celebrating their birthdays at some point, and in general stop celebrating anything remotely funny in their lives – especially when the kids come along. But that’s insane, you need it more than ever from then on! So I kept singing. It isn’t always easy and sometimes I drag myself to choir on a Thursday night. But guess what? I always leave with steps that are lighter and a smile on my face.
So singing is my “breathing space”. When we had our first child, only two weeks passed before I was out the door to sing (aka. breathe!). And when we moved to the other side of the world for my job, it took half a year before I got to my senses and realised I was in deep despair, stress and denial – I needed to find some people to sing (aka. breathe!) with.
You make others happier if you start off in a state of being happy yourself. Selfish? Yes. To be sure to be the best YOU, you can be. And then have bucket loads of energy to give.
What’s YOUR passion? What makes you smile and feel good? How can you carve out 6 hours of that, just for you? You don’t have time? Go to bed earlier, start buying clothes that don’t need ironing.. do you know what? Let’s talk next time about the thousand things in everyday life we could spend less time on. Enjoy unravelling your passion until then!