“Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark.”

- Amiel, Journal, 17 December 1856

Passionate woman

Note: This guest post was written by freelance writer and entrepreneur Kim McGinnis. You can check out her website here.

You were born with a passion to do something unique with your life. As a divine being it was given you from the infinite supply of the universe. As an unborn child in your mother’s womb, you had it swirling all around you, and it lived and breathed inside of you, even before your little lungs developed.

It survives by simply being — no thinking required. Passion is a gift from the Universe. It’s in you, even though you may have forgotten what it is and how to access it. The key to uncovering your passion is a process. Take a look at this step-by-step process and then actually practice the steps. Before you know it will be living with passion rather than just dreaming about it.

1. Spend more time alone.

When you surround yourself with lots of people, or even one very strong individual, it is difficult to know what excites you. It is easy to become influenced if outside energies are stronger than yours.

Consider this a time for self-care. Be easy and respectful of yourself. If you choose to hang out at home create a space that is uncluttered and peaceful. If you go outside, make sure it’s an area that you will not be disturbed.

2. Heighten your awareness.

No matter where you choose, look around and learn to really appreciate your surroundings. This is a space you selected, so be aware of all the details that made it your place of choice. Use your senses to take in the beauty, scents, textures, and sounds.

Expect your experiences to be subtle. When you catch the scent of the candle by your bedside, this may invoke a distinct taste in your mouth. Your sixth sense (instinct) will also play an important role. Use it to make your space more appealing with time. Refine your sacred space so that it brings out the best in you.

3. Reflect.

Once you are comfortable in your space, close your eyes. Put your focus on the fact that you are pure energy and, because of that, you are a vibrational being. Let this really sink in.

Allow this reality to make you smile and feel delighted. You are not your body, your mind or your beliefs. The thing that is really you is eternal, creative energy. Everything else is a temporary body with an ego attached.

4. Write down your revelations.

Once you are able to wrap yourself around the idea of who you are at the core, write these thoughts down. Explore how this makes you feel. If you really “get it” you will be feeling very powerful.

This is a power supported by the universe, not one created from your ego. That means whatever you choose to do you will have the support of the infinite energy of the Universe. Knowing this you will be less likely to hold back about what would make you truly happy.

Write down your passions, no holds barred. You do not want to leave this planet with regrets. You were given life here on earth to express yourself in your own unique way. Everything surrounding you wants you to succeed!

Dig deep and write about what you would love to do. Do your best not to allow worries to crop in. The only stipulation is that your intention is pure. If you have read this far with an open mind, you already have a clear intention.

5. Experiment with your choices.

Okay, it’s time to get out there and have some fun in the real material world. Take a pottery class, attend a lecture on photography, join a writer’s group, go deep-sea fishing, etc, etc. The world is your oyster.

By now your instinct should be gearing up (if you’ve been practicing the previous steps) to provide you with indispensable guidance. Pretend that divine energy (God, Spirit, Our Inner Source) is in the driver’s seat. Your backseat driver days are over. If you used to be frightened about how you were getting to a certain location before — now, you simply trust that you will be led in the right direction.

If you take a wrong turn (or pick a class you decide you do not like), simply take another road (another class) next time. There are no mistakes-only adventures and experiences. Have fun on this ride.

6. Bring clarity to your passion.

The universe likes specifics. If you are clear in what you want, these things will more likely show up for you. Many people find themselves stuck here. You may find that you have many interests, but you are not sure if there is one thing you wholeheartedly want to pursue.

Know that this is a process, and when the time is right you will know for sure what it is you need to do. Signs will begin to present themselves. At first they will be subtle, and later, crystal. As long as you are consistent in your alone time, honest reflection, and writing your answers will be revealed to you.

7. Affirm.

Once you have the passion you wish (and need) to pursue, put it in affirmation form. Try this on for size…

“I am a talented painter, and my work is sought after from people from all walks of life.”

Write your affirmations down, say them out loud, record them, and listen to them when you are working out or driving. Make them personal and specific. When you practice them (writing or speaking), notice the feelings that come up for you.

These feelings are extremely important. Consider this quote by motivational author, Earl Nightingale:

“The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfillment.”

This is pure positive energy that is going to ultimately attract what you want. Yes, the law of attraction really does work. So, carry your positive thoughts and feelings close by, they will serve you well.

8. Get your feet wet.

Act. Take a risk. This is usually another stumbling block for a lot of folks. But without this step, your passion will remain an unrealized dream.

If you have come this far, do not allow yourself to stop now. An intelligent risk when the timing is right, can take your life from mundane to awesome.

When you apply the above steps with sincerity and commitment you will have such a show of support that taking action to live your passion should seem like a natural progression. Influential people and situations will show up, you will get a brilliant idea in the shower, or you will run into an old friend that you haven’t seen in nearly decade.

This step is pivotal, and it uses all the wisdom you have accessed thus far.

Here is a brief review of all the steps broken down in a concise way to help you on your journey:

1. Get to know yourself.
2. Be one with your positive feelings
3. Be aware of what is showing up for you.
4. Acknowledge these as gifts.
5. Express gratitude.
6. Replace fear with faith.
7. Listen to your intuition.
8. Free yourself of expectations and surrender to your divine guidance.
9. Take action using your unleashed passion while continuing to dream.

The hardest part of any journey is getting started and the truth is you will start when you are ready. This is the only way you will uncover your passion and live your life fully. So when you feel your foundation is strong enough and your footing is sure — go for it! Just don’t look back. This quote from an unknown source sums it up nicely:

“Dreams are like stars… you may never touch them, but if you follow them they will lead you to your destiny.”

你與生俱有一種激情，它能使你在你生活中做一些獨(dú)特的事。正如神那樣他賦予人類全宇宙取之不盡的供應(yīng)能量。正如你母親子宮里未出生的胎兒，你使它圍繞你旋轉(zhuǎn)，而它在你體內(nèi)生存和呼吸，而這甚至是在小寶寶的肺部發(fā)育之前。

它賴以生存的是——無需規(guī)定的思想。激情是人類的禮物，盡管你已經(jīng)忘記激情是什么，怎樣獲取激情，但它就這樣存在在你體內(nèi)。關(guān)鍵是，釋放你的激情是一個(gè)過程。.看看以下逐步的過程，并按其步驟實(shí)踐，你就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)活得有激情并不只是一個(gè)夢(mèng)想。

1 花更多的時(shí)間獨(dú)處.

當(dāng)很多人圍繞在你身邊，或即使只有一個(gè)很有能力的人在你身邊，這都會(huì)讓你很難了解什么可以使你興奮。因?yàn)槿绻�外界力量比你�?qiáng)大，你就很容易受到影響。

把這段獨(dú)處的時(shí)間看作是自我照顧的時(shí)間，放松和尊重自己。要是你選擇呆在家里，就為自己營(yíng)造一個(gè)不雜亂而又平靜的空間。要是你外出，就找一個(gè)確保不會(huì)被打擾到的地方。

2 提高你的諳熟性.

無論你選擇了什么地方，環(huán)顧四周，學(xué)習(xí)由衷地感激你周圍的環(huán)境。這是你選擇的空間，所以要去熟悉所有會(huì)成為你空間的細(xì)節(jié)。用你的感官去感受他的美麗，氣味，紋理和聲音。

期待微妙的經(jīng)歷。你聞到你床邊的蠟燭的氣味時(shí)，這可能在你口中又勾起一種獨(dú)特的味覺。你的第六感（本能）也將發(fā)揮重要的作用。利用它使你的空間隨著時(shí)間變得更有感染力。凈化你神圣的空間，以便陶冶出最好狀態(tài)的你。

3 沉思

一旦你在你的空間里感到輕松舒適，那么合上你的雙眼。集中注意力感覺你就是純凈的能源，而正因此，你是激情的源泉。讓這暗示漸漸地滲透到你心里。讓這真實(shí)令你歡笑和感覺到高興。你并不是你的軀體、你的思想或你的信念。真實(shí)的是，你是永恒的、創(chuàng)造性的能量。其實(shí)，重視自己，每樣事物都只是暫時(shí)的軀殼。

4 寫下你的啟示。

一旦你能夠把自己沉浸在你是核心的思想里面，就把這些想法寫下來。探討這種思想帶給你的感受如何。如果你真的“獲得了它”，你會(huì)感覺十分的強(qiáng)大。

這是宇宙提供的力量，不是任何人自我創(chuàng)造的。這就是說無論你選擇做什么，你都會(huì)得到宇宙無窮的能量作為支撐。了解到這一點(diǎn)，你將不再為了什么使你真正開心的問題而躊躇不前了。

寫下你的激情，你不會(huì)想抱著遺憾離開這個(gè)星球的吧。你在這世上被賦予生命，以你自己獨(dú)一無二的方式來詮釋你自己。你周圍的一切都希望你成功！

深入發(fā)掘，寫下你愛做的事。盡你的最大努力收起你的擔(dān)憂。唯一的要求是你的動(dòng)機(jī)必須是純粹的。如果你讀到這里豁然開朗的話，那么你已經(jīng)有清晰的意向了。

5 嘗試你的選擇。

好，是擺脫這里，享受真正的物質(zhì)世界的時(shí)候了。參加一個(gè)陶瓷課程，聽一場(chǎng)攝影講座，加入一個(gè)寫作社團(tuán)，去深海捕魚等等。世界就可以讓你從中獲取樂趣。

到現(xiàn)在你的本能已經(jīng)做好準(zhǔn)備為你提供必不可少的指導(dǎo)了（如果你已經(jīng)實(shí)行了以上的步驟）。佯裝神力（神，精神，我們的內(nèi)在）是出于駕駛座位上，你呆在后座的時(shí)間也就結(jié)束了。如果你過去常常害怕怎樣才能得到一個(gè)固定的位置——那現(xiàn)在，你只要簡(jiǎn)單地確信你會(huì)走向正確的方向就好了。

如果你走了一個(gè)彎路（或者說你選了一個(gè)你不喜歡的課程），下一次選另外一條路（另一個(gè)課程）就好。沒有錯(cuò)誤——只有奇遇和經(jīng)歷。享受過程中的樂趣。

6 讓你的激情變清晰

宇宙喜歡獨(dú)特。如果你清楚你想要什么，這些東西就很可能會(huì)出現(xiàn)在你面前。許多人發(fā)現(xiàn)他們會(huì)被卡在這兒。你可能發(fā)現(xiàn)你有許多興趣，但卻不確定其中是否有一樣能讓你全心全意地追求下去的。

知道這是一個(gè)過程后，當(dāng)時(shí)機(jī)成熟時(shí)你會(huì)知道你需要做的是什么。跡象會(huì)開始浮現(xiàn)出來。一開始這些跡象是模糊不清的，后來會(huì)慢慢變得透徹的。只要你能融于你獨(dú)處的時(shí)間，誠(chéng)懇地思考，寫下你的答案，這都能揭露事實(shí)。

7 肯定

一旦你擁有激情，你就會(huì)希望（也必需）追求它并把它轉(zhuǎn)化為肯定形式。把這按大小試穿……

“我是一個(gè)天才的畫家，我的工作是探索各階層人士的生活。”

寫下你的斷言，大聲說出來，錄下他們并在你工作或駕駛的時(shí)候放來聽。讓他們屬于你個(gè)人特有的。當(dāng)你練習(xí)時(shí)（寫或朗讀），注意你自己的感受。

這些感受是極其重要的。研究動(dòng)機(jī)的學(xué)者厄爾南丁格爾有這樣的名言：

“我們對(duì)想法或目標(biāo)感覺越熱切，那想法就越確信，它深埋在我們的潛意識(shí)，還將直接引導(dǎo)我們通向?qū)崿F(xiàn)目標(biāo)的道路。”

這是純粹的積極能源，最終吸引你想要的。是的，吸引定律的確存在。所以，你要懷著積極的想法和近在咫尺的感受，他們將為你帶來幫助。

8 勇于嘗試

行動(dòng)。冒險(xiǎn)。這通常是許多普通人的另一塊絆腳石。但沒有這一步，你的激情只能仍是一個(gè)未實(shí)現(xiàn)的夢(mèng)想。

如果你真的面臨這步，現(xiàn)在不要讓你自己停下來。當(dāng)時(shí)機(jī)成熟，一個(gè)明智的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)可以讓你的人生從平凡變得驚世駭俗。

你真誠(chéng)而又投入地完成以上的步驟后，你將感覺有所支持去采取行動(dòng)來點(diǎn)燃你的激情，這就像一個(gè)自然的進(jìn)展。有影響的人和環(huán)境會(huì)出現(xiàn)，你會(huì)在淋浴時(shí)靈機(jī)一閃，或者你會(huì)跑去看望差不多十年未見的老朋友。

這一步是關(guān)鍵，它凝聚了所有迄今為止你所使用的智慧。

這里用簡(jiǎn)潔的分點(diǎn)方式，簡(jiǎn)短回顧了這次歷程所有的步驟：

1 了解你自己。

2 抱以積極的感受獨(dú)處。

3 知道你周圍的情況。

4 意識(shí)到這些是賜予。

5 表達(dá)感恩之心。

6 用信念戰(zhàn)勝害怕。

7 聆聽你的直覺。

8 釋放你自己的期望，交由你的神來引導(dǎo)。

9 繼續(xù)夢(mèng)想的同時(shí)，采取行動(dòng)釋放你的激情。

任何的旅程最困難的都是出發(fā)，而真理是，你準(zhǔn)備好了你就會(huì)出發(fā)。這是你完全釋放你的激情激活你的生活的唯一途徑。所以當(dāng)你感覺你的基礎(chǔ)足夠的強(qiáng)大，你的立足點(diǎn)明確時(shí)——去！不要回頭看。這引述一句來源不明的名言能很好的總結(jié)：

“夢(mèng)想就像星星……你可能永遠(yuǎn)無法觸摸他們，但如果你跟隨他們，他們將引導(dǎo)您到您的命運(yùn)。”