What is your Passion Project?

When I had my idea for the Joy life club blog, I was hesitant since I had already started (and have since stopped) a blog, ShoeAxis , a couple years ago. I wasn't sure if I wanted to put myself "out there" again, but I still longed for a creative outlet to latch onto. Even though my daily work as a Nurse Practitioner was fulfilling, it lacked in inspiring me.  My desire to do something that was unrelated to my day job, brought me to start a fashion blog. I believe I was on the right track, but I needed to fine-tune my intentions and focus. 

The irony is that I found my passion was not for fashion, but for health & wellness---an area I was already in! Throughout my career as a medical healthcare provider, I was inclined to educating patients about their lifestyle habits . When patients came back for follow-up---improving their blood pressure readings, their labs results, even losing weight and feeling better, I felt empowered! To be a part of somebody's transformation is awe-inspiring. We are magnificent creatures made by an awesome God!  

When I finally sat in silence, and pondered my life during my meditation, the obvious came clear. I was frustrated with conventional medicine's traditional and stringent approach to a patient's chronic health problems; addressing a symptom as a separate entity, verses addressing the symptom in how it relates to the whole person, in order to find the core problem. This is an area of medicine where I knew I could make a change in, and make a difference with my knowledge and experience, and yes, with my passion!

Sometimes I wonder why it took me so long to get it. Why I had to go through disappointments and failures. I sure did feel silly at times, but my first little blog actually got me out of my comfort zone, so for that I am grateful for my short stint with ShoeAxis. Experiences, circumstances, or even seemingly random moments in life, should remind us that there is a point and a purpose for whatever we are doing, whatever we are going through, to bring us to where we currently are. Sometimes we are too stubborn, too clueless, or too busy trying to figure it all out, that we forget to just be calm and still during these instances. 

A friend of mine forwarded this article to me, and it was exactly what I had been feeling, validating that I wasn't alone in wanting to be enlivened, to do more, having a purpose, and giving back. Have you found the thing that enriches your life, whether it's an aspect of your career you can expand on, whether it's a hobby you have neglected and want to get back into, whether it's something you haven't quite figured out yet? Take the time to pause and consider what it is that stirs you, that motivates you, that inspires you. With a little prayer, and in the stillness of the moment, you will find clarity in the purpose that gives you joy in life!