Psychology For Living: Doing What You Love

20 October, 2008

Doing What You Love

"Dance for yourself. If someone understands, good. If not then no matter, go right on doing what you love."

~Unknown

It is my belief that one of the best antidotes for a stressful life is to be involved in something you are passionate about – something you love. Of course, learning to relax, eliminating as much conflict as possible, exercising and breathing fresh air are important parts of the equation.

These may, however, be things we approach with the same determination and goal-orientation as we do in our work. Witness the ‘stress’ slowly entering our awareness when we cannot figure out when to find the time to meditate, or when our work-out schedule becomes disrupted.

When I talk about things we are passionate about, I am thinking of those things in which we can completely lose ourselves. Reading a really good book that you do not want to put down, or working on a creative project so intently that you forget the time, are examples of things that de-stress us. Playing a musical instrument or doing an artistic activity can also engage us so completely that we forget about everything else.

Find something that you love. When we absolutely love what we are doing, our physiology changes in a positive way. Simply focusing on reducing stress aims to bring us back to a ‘neutral’ state. Surely there is so much more to a quality life than keeping stress at bay.

Doing something we love elevates us above the mundane details of survival, and allows us to experience the joy of being a unique human being, having a unique personal experience. Happiness and contentment require much more than the absence of negatives.