How to Live Your Passion

Learning to re-capture your passion.

For many people, being out of work is sort of like having the chance to start over. Even though you probably didn't want to have to go back to square one, once you're there, you might as well make the best of it. Without a job to keep you grounded, a whole new world of possibilities opens up. Do you want to go back to school? Change career fields? Move to a new city? Or, just find a better paying job as soon as possible?

It's important to take advantage of a little bit of this newly freed up time to think about what it is that you are passionate about. If you can find it, and then figure out how to tap into that joy, you can make your life happier and ensure that your next job will be rewarding.

But where to start? There's not really a road map to happiness, because it isn't a place we can go to. Rather, it is a place we create for ourselves inside of us. Once we tap into it, the joy and passion spills out and touches every aspect of our lives. If you want to build a happier life, it isn't as hard as you'd think. It just takes some practice.

Here are 5 ways to live your passion and be happier:

Spend time with happy people - I'm sure that you've heard of the old adage "birds of a feather, flock together". I don't think it's true that people spend time with other people who are most like them. I think that maybe it works the other way around. When you hang out with people, you start to act like them. If you surround yourself with people who are happy and passionate about their lives, you'll be inspired and encouraged to live your life to the fullest as well. Enthusiasm and passion are contagious, just like negativity. Fill your support group with people who will help you "catch" their excitement.

Give yourself some room - In order to build happiness inside yourself, you have to have the space to find it. Set aside a small amount of time each day to spend with yourself. Take a walk, stop multi-tasking, eat your lunch away from you desk or devote some time to a favorite hobby. When you take this time, just try to relax and get reacquainted with yourself.

Help others - I don't care who you are or what you do, there has to be something you can do to help someone else. Everyone has special skills and talents. What's your gift? What is it that your friends and family compliment you on the most? How can you use this gift to help others? When you share your talents with others, you can't help but feel happy, more fulfilled and inspired.

Write some every day - Keeping some sort of journal or diary can really help you keep track of the things you care about. A few years ago, for example, I started a blog that only I would have access to. Each day, I challenged myself to take a picture of something that I found interesting that day and post it, along with a short paragraph about why I took the picture. After a month or two, looking back at the photos was really fun. However, the thing that made the largest difference in my life was the process of paying attention to everything around me in order to find something interesting enough to take a picture of.

Get scared - Change is a good thing, but it can be really scary and it can hurt a lot too. When we are scared and nervous, we are growing and being challenged. Of course, when you are growing, you're bound to have a few growing pains just as a matter of course. If you aren't nervous or scared, you aren't learning anything and are probably bored. Challenge yourself to do at least one or two things each day that are outside of your comfort zone.

Learn something - If you are a life long learner, then you already know how good it is for your soul to learn something new. Think about the things you have always wanted to know more about and then go check out a library book, find online resources or just get out and do it. Starting a hobby, reading a biography or doing anything that keeps your brain engaged can help you find the excitement and energy in your life.

There will always be people out there who will try to tell you what you should be doing and how you should be feeling, and when you are unemployed, it's no different. There are plenty of well meaning friends and family who will tell you to "beat the streets" and nag you about your job search, making you feel guilty for any moments that you aren't actively looking for a job. The truth is, if you find a way to recapture your enthusiasm and passion, you'll increase your chance of finding the right job due to your new found happiness.

By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for FinancialJobBank. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.