The Thing

What was it and when did you lose it?

What was the thing that made you think, YES! to life?

What was the thing that made you want to get out of bed in the morning?

What was the thing that put a magnificent, unadulterated, unashamed smile on your face?

And where did it go?

We all have this amazing ability to create life, to make fun, to come up with something that wasn’t there before!

We were all born with passion!

But then something or some things happened and we lost the thing.

It went away. It no longer was the focus of our affection.

What happened?

How long has it been since you even thought about it?

You are the only one like you in the world; you made stuff. You had ideas. You created a little corner of joy that nobody else ever did.

Think about it. Go for a walk. Meditate. Or just give yourself permission to consider it again.

What was it?

Where did it go?

Why did you drop it? Did life get in the way? Did somebody try to steal it? Did you think it had no more value? Was it not socially acceptable?

Only you know about the thing.

Maybe your thing used to be painting, singing, restoring old cars. Maybe it was hosting social gatherings or poetry readings. Maybe it was spending time alone with each of your kids, or going on real dates with your lover. Or maybe it was giving yourself to have a lover at all.

Whatever your thing or things were, how about getting them back?

If they were the things that made your heart sings, aren’t they worth reclaiming?

Maybe life got in the way…really in the way.

But consider this article to be your permission slip. It’s permission to think again, feel again, and go after your passions.

When you’re lying on your deathbed, I doubt you will regret the chores that went undone, the obligations you sloughed off, or the overtime you failed to put in.

Instead, you will likely morn the things you never tried, the goals you never pursued, and the joys you never realized.

You now have permission. Follow your heart. Forget what other people think.

Recapture the imagination. Recapture the thing.

Royalty free image of the grandson in the magical pot by Pietro Abbate in Napoli, Italy; retrieved from: http://www.freeimages.com/photo/451876?forcedownload=1