Entwining Passions and Goals

We all have lists of things we hope to, want to, intend to and work toward accomplishing.  The trouble is many of these lack the excitement and fun that would make doing them so much easier. If we approached our goals differently, in a way that would ignite a fire under us and give us pure joy, would our results and end products be different?  I believe they would!

Our oldest son is at a point in his schooling where he needs to propose his senior research project.  With the sky being the limit it can be difficult to narrow down a topic and direction and harder yet to do it with an attitude of  ‘I can’t wait to’ vs. ‘I have to’. What he has discovered is that with a different approach that intertwines his passion of ultra-running with that of completing his research project, he has not only discovered a renewed interest and excitement but a project that will also take our family on several trips to the mountains surrounding Grande Cache, a bonus all around. :)

The mundane, dreaded or boring things we need to or should complete, if put together with things we love and are passionate about cannot only accomplish many goals at once but can accomplish them bigger and better changing our perspective and approach to goals we choose or those that choose us. This has proved to be the case with one of my personal goals.  I have over my years in the I Ho Chuan had a couple of goals that never really worked very well for me.  It wasn’t that they weren’t important to me but rather my approach didn’t help all things to work well together.  So this year I incorporated a couple of goals that would not only complement each other but with the twist I am really enjoying.

I have an absolute love of photography.  I have thousands and thousands of photos nicely either in albums, on sticks and on an external drive. The sad thing is I rarely take the time to go through them.  In the same breath I had a gratitude journal that I had intended finishing each day off with some insightful and meaningful words of gratitude.  Well that became boring, not because I didn’t have anything to be grateful for but that I found myself worn out at the end of the day and past the moment of thinking and reliving and noticing the great parts of my day, I was done.

So this year I have put together 2 goals that will complement each other. I have started a computer photo journal.  Once a week I pick one picture and paste it in my journal followed by a journal posting of gratitude and thoughts as I relive the moment that picture was taken.  I have found this has me not only going through my photos, but reminding myself of my experiences, where I came from and all I have to be grateful for in my life. I have also made a point of placing a photo on each one of my blogs, some related to the blog others are just cause they made me smile.

intertwining our passions with our goals makes the journey all the sweeter.  Whether it’s coming up with a research project or a list of personal goals for your I Ho Chuan year, combining them with your passions they become truly personal, meaningful, more motivated and at the end of the day more successful.

Alana Regier   
http:/alanaregier.blogspot.ca

 

This is a picture of my grandpa in the place he loved the best doing what he loved most, mountains and fishing!  I guess the love of the mountain beauty and atmosphere has proven to be hereditary! A gentle and loving reminder of where I came from, bringing floods of wonderful memories of a dearly loved man!