Discovering Your Passion

Last night was the Personal Progress Slumber Party for the Young Women of our church. Since I work with the Young Women I was asked to teach a lesson/help them pass-off on Individual worth value experience #4. (BTW, I am really excited and anxious for the new Personal Progress website to be finished! I think it will be so helpful, especially with figuring things out when those books get lost!)

About 6 months ago a friend of mine, Michelle, gave this great lesson to the Young Women she teaches back in California. (I steal a lot of her ideas, Thanks Michelle!) It inspired me so much and I felt it would tie in so nicely. So I used it as inspiration and the base of the lesson I gave. I just wanted to share the lesson I taught.

Tonight we are going to work on a Personal Progress Value experience. We will work on Individual Worth #4. I want to dig in a bit and really make it helpful to your lives. My hope is it will help you to discover more about yourself and your individual worth, which in turn will help you to become a better and stronger Young Woman and adult. It might even give you some ideas for other Personal Progress experiences and projects.

(I asked someone to read the first line of the value experience) “You are preparing now to fulfill a unique mission on the earth.”

What is the mission? Eternal Life. Is it the same as everyone else’s mission? In general yes, but the details different. (Point out word “unique”)

(I asked someone to read Doctrine and Covenants 88:119) "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;"

What do you think this means? We need to organize our lives and make sure we are living the Gospel. It can be overwhelming, but it is doable.

(I asked someone to read the next sentence of the experience) “In your journal make a list of your hopes and dreams for your future home, family, and education and some important things you would like to accomplish in your life, including becoming a wife and a mother”.

Give them some time to jot down a few things

(someone else read the last line) “Then write a plan that will help you achieve your goals”.

Give them a bit of time again, but let them know we can and will go over this more

Alright, I am going to tell you a little about myself. When I was growing up I was pretty outgoing. I loved meeting people and having lots of friends. More than one person has made the statement that I have never met a stranger. I REALLY like people. I HATED being alone. I am not sure I was ever really alone. I was pretty smart so I would often finish my school work quickly and then I would get myself and everyone else in trouble for talking. I LOVED trying new things. I would get bored easily, but I was also fairly easy to entertain. I always did well in school, it just came easily to me. I was fairly creative.

These were things that stuck with me my entire childhood and through College. I was Very social and was often the organizer of “fun”; parties, outings, dinners, whatever. This was a core part of me. Chris and I got married a few months after I completed my Master’s degree. And shortly after that we started to have kids. I decided to become a Stay At Home Mom. Afterall, it is what we are supposed to do as Mormons, right?

Well, it was a HARD transition for me. I did not have a parent that stayed home with me as I grew-up, so I had no example of what it looked like. I felt really lost. All the sudden I realized I had completely lost my identity. My name had changed, I wasn’t doing any of the things I loved. I wasn’t seeing people, I wasn’t talking to people, I wasn’t meeting new people, I wasn’t creating anything, I wasn’t happy. It seemed my life as Luna had stopped and my life as mom began.

It took me quite some time to figure out how to be a Mom named Luna. And after each major event in my life, like the birth of a child, the death of my mom, moving, Kiah starting school, I have to rework my life and reassess my passions again. I think I could have saved myself a lot of time being unhappy and trying to figure out what my passions were if I had started, when I was younger, to recognize the things I was passionate about, the things that really made me feel alive, and I enjoyed. Because that is what helps you through some of those tough times.

My friend Michelle gave a great lesson to Young Women she works with in California. I have used a lot of what she said about discovering your Passion.

There are 4 steps.

Step 1 Get quiet

Slow down, spend time with yourself, pray for guidance (I made a sign with a copy of the Personal Progress book cover on it. Each time something would fulfill a Personal Progress experience I held up the sign and told them which value experience it is I pointed out that this would satisfy Faith #1) and become closer to Heavenly Father. Your Patriarchal blessing could help you here too. (Individual Worth #2)

(I had a volunteer read this story)

A Native American and his friend were in downtown New York City, walking near Times Square in Manhattan. It was during the noon lunch hour and the streets were filled with people. Cars were honking their horns, taxicabs were squealing around corners, sirens were wailing, and the sounds of the city were almost deafening. Suddenly, the Native American said, "I hear a cricket." His friend said, "What? You must be crazy. You couldn't possibly hear a cricket in all of this noise!" "No, I'm sure of it," the Native American said, "I heard a cricket." "That's crazy," said the friend. The Native American listened carefully for a moment, and then walked across the street to a big cement planter where some shrubs were growing. He looked into the bushes, beneath the branches, and sure enough, he located a small cricket. His friend was utterly amazed. "That's incredible!" said his friend. "You must have superhuman ears!" "No," said the Native American. "My ears are no different from yours. It all depends on what you're listening for." "But that can't be!" said the friend. "I could never hear a cricket in all this noise." "Yes, it's true," came the reply. "It depends on what is really important to you. Here let me show you." He reached into his pocket, pulled out a few coins, and discretely dropped them on the sidewalk. And then, with the noise of the crowded street still blaring in their ears, they noticed every head within twenty feet turn and look to see if the money that tinkled on the pavement was theirs. "See what I mean?" asked the Native American. "It all depends on what is important to you."

What is important to you? What do you listen for? Some people say that there is not a God, and that He never speaks to us anymore. But perhaps they can't see or hear Him because they aren't listening for Him. They are living for themselves, not for God. If you are in tune with God, you will be able to notice Him at work in your life and in the world. And you'll be able to hear Him when He speaks.

Step 2: Explore

Pay attention to your environment. Spend some time paying close attention to what excites you, touches you, inspires you, or frustrates you. Watch what is going on around you and note your reactions to it. Ask others to help you by pointing out what they see as your special gifts (Individual Worth#7) Notice Qualities in others you would like to have (Individual Worth #3)

An inspiring man named Randy Pausch once said: You just have to decide if you’re a Tigger or an Eeyore. (I called up a volunteer and had them hold up Tigger and Eeyore stick puppets.)

Let’s describe Tigger: Explores, Positive, Happy, Never gives up
Describe Eeyore: Depressed, Stays in his Pen, Down, Sad

You make the decision about who you are going to be. Be a Tigger! Explore the world around you and find the things you love!

Step 3: Ask questions (knowledge #2)

What puts a smile on your face?
What activities come easily to you?
What sparks your creativity?
What do you like to talk about?
What would you regret not having tried?

(The girls wrote their answers on the Goals handout.)

The answers to these questions are the stepping stones towards finding your passion. It is a process.

(someone read ) Moroni 4:27 says, 'And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.' (made reference back to the scripture in Doctine and Covenants we read earlier and the word "order" )

Step 4: Take a risk

Now is the time to stop dreaming and start doing! Challenge your fears with action. Try something new. (Divine Nature #6) Many times passions are discovered by attempting something you have never done before!

I am going to list some of the things I have tried. Some of them were successful; others were not for various reasons. Clarinet, singing, Piano, Spanish, ASL, genealogy, knitting, cooking, baking, teaching, ceramics, drawing, painting, theatre, reading, writing, photography, travel, running, stamping, scrapbooking, sewing, astronomy, oceanography, surfing, swing dance, African dance, Latin dance, hip hop, ballet, tap, volleyball, basketball, swimming, large event coordinating, public speaking, advocacy, gardening, recycling.

A lot of times we will hit brick walls as we try things.

(someone read this quote) Randy Pausch said, “The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something, because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.”

Time and Money tend to be common brick walls. And sometimes those brick walls take awhile break through.

This is a story told by President Spencer W. Kimball. His passion was education, and his goal was to go to college. His brick walls were many, and this story is inspiring.

(volunteer read this) “After my mission I wanted to attend college, but my family could not afford to send me. So I took a job in the freight yards of the Southern Pacific Railroad in Los Angeles to earn money for school. I worked fourteen hours a day moving freight between warehouses and boxcars on a two-wheeled hand truck. Often I had a thousand-pound load on the hand truck. I’m sure you can understand why I was tired at the end of the day.

“I was living with my sister two or three miles away. The streetcar fare was ten cents, but I trudged the whole distance each way in order to save twenty cents a day. I wanted very much to go to college, and walking that distance made my goal that much nearer realization. I was able to save enough money to return to my home state of Arizona and attend the University of Arizona.”

It can be really hard to overcome those brick walls. Last conference Pres Uchtdorf said something that helped me a lot recently. (volunteer read) “Try, and keep trying until that which seems difficult becomes possible – and that which seems only possible becomes habit and a real part of you.”

Sometimes a passion has to sit on the back burner for awhile giving you time to focus on another passion. And that is OK. When we moved here I had a lot of changes. I depended a great deal on my family as a support network. I lost that when I moved here. It was really hard for me. We also had to live on a much tighter budget. That meant a lot of my passions had to go to the wayside and I had to discover new passions I could focus on now.

I had to sit down and go through these steps to really get myself going. This is what I figured out:

• I like being creative.
  
• I like connecting to people.
  
• I like learning.

So...

I started blogging. It let’s me keep a journal and connect with my friends and make new friends. I get ideas from reading other people blogs. Ways to save money, fun things to do with my kids, and ideas to help me with my callings.

I began cooking as a hobby. I figure I have to buy food and feed my family anyway, I might as well make it fun. I joined a group called the Daring Kitchen. Each month we try a new and “daring” recipe. Then we share our experiences. Sometimes it has worked out, sometimes it hasn't ... But I have fun.

(passed around collage of pictures of things I cooked)

I also started sewing and crafting more. As I have more kids and they get older, I have more party gifts to make since it is cheaper to make.

(passed around a collage of pictures of things I have made)

I helped start a couple of Relief Society groups so I can meet-up with others to socialize.

I do genealogy. I love it. I have gotten really lucky and found TONS of info online. I have tens of thousands of names. Now I am working on double checking the accuracy other's work as it relates to my own family history.

I also do a lot of research on the internet and in books on topics I am interested in learning more about, like activities for Young Women, weather, gardening, pregnancy, childbirth, child rearing, budgeting, couponing, and all sorts of gospel topics! Sis. Pratt and Sis. Weiss have both gotten emails with lists of resources on topics I have researched.

Every person’s passion is significant. Each and every one of us has talents to share and they are all important.
(Showed a ball point pen.) I'm sure everyone knows what this is. Yes, it is a ballpoint pen. What do you think the most important part of this pen is? Many of you said the "ink", that is a common answer. Let's see how useful this ballpoint pen is. I need someone to volunteer to write with this pen, and see if it works properly.

(I had a volunteer try to use the pen. The pen won't write.)

The reason this pen is not working properly is because it is missing a part. It may seem like an insignificant part, but the pen can't work without it. It is the spring! I have it here in my pocket.

(Inserted the spring back into the pen, and confirmed that it is now working properly.)

Even something as simple as a ballpoint pen needs all its parts to work properly. Some parts may seem more important, like the ink, while others may seem less important, like the spring, but they are all needed.

Some people have talents that can be performed, like singing or playing an instrument. Other people have talents that are a part of their character, such as being cheerful, or helping others. The fact is everyone has talents and we are commanded to nurture and grow our talents, it is part of our "Unique mission."

Big goals are achieved by meeting smaller goals first.
Explained the Example of running a 5k, and passed around the training schedule

“No plan. No objective. No goal. The road to anywhere is the road to nowhere, and the road to nowhere leads to dreams sacrificed, opportunities squandered, and a life unfulfilled”
- Thomas S. Monson

I hope this will help guide you through discovering your passions, those things you really love, and setting goals to get there. Your Personal Progress can be a tool for you to make a plan, an objective, a goal like Pres Monson said. It can help you find your passion and find true joy the rest of your life. Remember, we find in (a volunteer read this) 2 Nephi 2:25 "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." We are meant to have joy! At some point in your life, you will all probably be wives, mothers, teachers, mentors, or career-women. These things will take up most of your time, as they should. But my hope is to inspire you to find time for those things that are just for you, grow and develop them, and then share them with the world.

I explained what we were going to do with the Goal Sheet and how it pertains to Personal Progress then I bore my Testimony to the girls.

Since I gave this lesson so close to Valentine's Day I thought it would be cute tweek Michelle's handout "Light a Fire under your Passion" (she used Atomic Fireballs candy) to make a hand out that said "Make your Passion RED HOT." And pass out Red Hots. The handout also had the quote from Pres. Monson on it too.