More Bright Ideas for Better Living from Lifescope.
Subject: Lifescope TIPs & QUIPs [31] "The Six Adult Passions"
TIPs & QUIPs, the free occasional email of helpful hints and quotes (and
sometimes challenging suggestions) for getting the most from life.
In this issue:
*** WiseWords
*** This Issue's Theme
*** Suggested Resources
*** Thrive On! Recommended Site
*** WiseWords *** [TOP]
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"I always wanted to be somebody,
but I should have been more specific."
--Lily Tomlin
"Life can only be understood backwards;
but it must be lived forwards."
--Soren Kierkegaard
"Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act."
--Truman Capote
"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear
and life stands explained."
--Mark Twain
(For a collection of some of our favorite WiseWords, see our web page at
<http://www.lifescope.com/pages/WiseWords.html>.)
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*** This issue's theme: The Six Adult Passions [TOP]
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Dear Reader:
I often hear people fret about how their lives are out of balance
-- that to pursue one thing they want it seems they must give up
another. This always interests me, because I hope to learn what
their idea of the desired balance is. Most of the time, their
description is an unattainable ideal -- an Utopian existence that
could represent a single snapshot in time, but that will quickly
and inevitably break down.
If appropriate, I point out that balance is a dynamic process
rather than a static state of being -- that by being human and
living life, things will indeed naturally go out of kilter. Call
it chaos, call it entropy -- it IS the natural flow of life.
The great thing about understanding and accepting this idea, is
that absolutes become temporary. We discover that "we're always on
our way to somewhere else." What becomes the measure of happiness,
then, is whether we are actually pursuing that which we most
desire. THAT is the elusive truth which so many people avoid
asking themselves, to delay the discomfort of change.
The "trick" as it were, is to live each day (each hour?) according
to your current values and passions, allowing them to define the
right arrangement of priorities. In singing four-part harmony, we
don't expect that one part will always be the loudest. So it is
with the stages and phases of your life.
Which brings me to The Six Adult Passions, from the good folks at
the Hudson Institute in Santa Barbara. Which of these passions
bring the most power and purpose to YOUR life? And how can you
fuel those passions so they burn brightly and fully?
Read on!
-- Lee Lukehart
The following text is a section from the book
"LifeLaunch: A Passionate Guide to the Rest of Your Life"
by Frederic Hudson & Pamela Hudson.
(excerpted with permission)
GETTING IN TOUCH WITH YOUR CURRENT PASSIONS AND VALUES
What you want for your life at forty is seldom what you wanted
at twenty, and at sixty or eighty you have yet different
passions and goals. To some degree, your priorities change.
After examining hundreds of biographies of twentieth century
successful adults, we found that the persons we examined
measured their lives with six different basic values -- often in
combination with one another. These six core values compete for
our loyalty and passionate commitment throughout the life
course, and we often shift gears throughout the adult years from
familiar, accomplished passion areas to less familiar,
attractive, and energizing values:
PERSONAL POWER.............. Know Thyself
ACHIEVEMENT................. Reach Your Goals
INTIMACY.................... Love and Be Loved
PLAY & CREATIVITY........... Follow Your Intuition
SEARCH FOR MEANING.......... Spiritual Integrity
COMPASSION & CONTRIBUTION... Leave a Legacy
Each of these draws upon a different aspect of our human
preferences, but every adult has the capacity to tap all six
passions, in various combinations, at various times in the
lifecycle, to sustain vitality and purpose. Too often we lock
ourselves into the passions and values of our young adult years,
and bum out on them during mid-life, losing our passion for
life. A better approach is to keep evaluating your priorities
and preferences, to be sure that at any time in your life you
are marching to your own drumbeats, empowered by the values you
most honor.
Your passions are your internal energy source, the fire or
determination you have for reaching some destination up ahead.
They tell you why you are on this journey and what you want from
life. They are your push and your pull. Find your passion for
living the current chapter of your life -- and make it happen!
................................
The Six Adult Passions
Each life structure during your adult years has a different
value base from previous ones. Your priorities change. Your
expectations shift. You create new preferences and ways to spend
your time. Most life chapters are built upon three or four of
these passions. This kaleidoscope of change is based on a
gradual shifting of six core values which are basic to the human
imprint. How would you rank order these six in relationship to
both your current life and the next chapter of your life? First
read this entire section so you have a good grasp of all six
passions and how they function. Then indicate in your journal or
notebook how you would rank-order (1-6) the passions for the
next chapter of your life. Let 1 be the most important and 6 the
least important, for the emerging chapter of your life. Then
concentrate on how you would define your next chapter with your
top three or four passions.
PERSONAL POWER: "Claiming Yourself"
Self-esteem, confidence, identity, inner motivation, a
positive sense of self, clear ego boundaries, self-love,
courage.
Ways to increase personal power:
- Stay close to nature
- Stay around healthy people
- Reconnect to important people in your past
- Get hugs
- Keep a journal
- Read poetry
- Become a potter
- Have a lot of quiet time
- Stay on your life course, not someone else's
- Read works by Hugh Prather, Jeffrey Kottler, Ira Progoff,
Ellen Goodman, Anna Quindlen, Anthony Storr, Jean Baker
Miller, Rosalind Barnett, Carol Gilligan
ACHIEVEMENT: "Proving Yourself"
Reaching goals, conducting projects, working, winning,
playing in organized sports, having ambition, getting results
and recognition and $, being purposive, doing.
Ways to increase achievement:
- Maintain clear goals and objectives
- Use time-management plan
- Connect to friends who are winners
- join network groups in your goal areas
- Evaluate frequently
- Read writings of Charles Garfield, Rosabeth Moss Kanter,
Stephen R. Covey, Tom Peters, Warren Bennis, Pat Schroder
INTIMACY: "Sharing Yourself"
Loving, bonding, caring, being intimate, making relationships
work, touching, feeling close, nesting, coupling, parenting,
being a friend. Ways to increase intimacy:
- Speak from the heart
- Be a friend
- Seek fairness
- Risk a little more
- Be open to new ways
- Offer intimacy and risk rejection
- Touch
- Avoid blame
- Seek solutions
- Ritualize-phone, flowers, celebrations
- Speak the truth
- Read writings of Elizabeth B. Browning, Sam Keen, Sam
Osherson, Harville Hendrix, Ellen Galinsky
PLAY & CREATIVITY: "Expressing Yourself"
Being imaginative, intuitive, playful, spontaneous, original,
expressive, humorous, artistic, celebrative, re-creative,
funny, curious, childlike, and non-purposive.
Ways to increase play and creativity:
- Follow your feelings
- Learn simple ways to express yourself
- Go to the zoo often
- Walk the beach
- Play with children
- Fly kites
- Be a clown
- Buy yourself some toys
- Play with clay
- Shout and laugh in your car
- Sing daily
- Read the writings on creativity by Silvano Arieti, Julia
Cameron, Robert Grundin, Willis Harman, Madeleine L'Engle,
Roger von Oech, and George Prince
SEARCH FOR MEANING: "Integrating Yourself"
Finding wholeness, unity, integrity, peace, an
innerconnection to all things, spirituality, trust in the
flow of life, inner wisdom, a sense of transcendence, bliss.
Ways to increase search for meaning:
- Meditate daily in silence
- Pray-no matter what you believe
- Listen to your inner self
- Introspect-look within yourself
- Walk alone in the woods
- Go on a vision quest
- Take long drives, alone.
- Seek out wise elders
- Learn your family history and roots
- Be a mentor
- Read biographies
- Listen to music
- Embark on faith-centered therapy
- Read the works of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Victor Frankl,
Arthur Ashe, M. Scott Peck, Eugene Bianchi, Charlotte
Buhler, Gloria Steinem, Thomas More, and Ram Dass
COMPASSION & CONTRIBUTION: "Giving Yourself"
Improving, helping, feeding, reforming, leaving the world a
better place, bequeathing, being generative, serving,
feeding, social and environmental caring,
institution-building, volunteerism.
Ways to increase compassion and contribution:
- Do a good deed, anonymously
- Meditate on compassion and contribution
- Practice dying
- Replace acquisition with divestiture
- Support your favorite cause, actively
- Work with the homeless in your town
- Pursue peace at every level of your life
- Read the works of Sister Theresa, Albert Schweitzer,
Eleanor D. Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Jimmy Carter,
Mortimer J. Adler, Marian Wright Edelman, John Gardner,
Robert Bellah, Ken Keyes, Betty Friedan, Peter Block, and
Bill Moyers
Your values are your compass for guiding your journey into your
next LifeLaunch. They will point you toward what matters most to
you. What are some of the passionate destinations you want to
get from your passions at this time in your life? How do you
want your next chapter to come out? What will the results be?
Take your top three or four passions that you want to direct
your next chapter of life and construct a script for the next
chapter of your life, keeping you at the growth-edge of your
human development.
*** Suggested Resources *** [TOP]
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LIFELAUNCH: A PASSIONATE GUIDE TO THE REST OF YOUR LIFE
by Frederic Hudson & Pamela Hudson.
A LifeLaunch is the beginning of a new chapter of your life. Each
LifeLaunch requires fresh vision, new plans, and inner courage as you
shift gears from yesterday's commitments to tomorrow's possibilities.
Society used to tailor our transitions for us, and guide us down
established paths of adult life. No more. Today you must design your own
path, and take charge of all your LifeLaunches no matter what your age or
situation. This book steps you through this process of defining your path.
(softcover book, 146pp)
SRP$19.95 -- (see links below for special price)
1. BUY this item online now from us! LIFESCOPE.COM.
Your Lifescope purchase is RISK-FREE:
Visit our secure online store with your VISA/MC/Discover/AMEX.
Your satisfaction is absolutely guaranteed or your money back!
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*** Thrive On! Recommended Site *** [TOP]
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WisdomQuest eLibrary <http://www.websonar.com/websonar/sonar.html>
Although not a life-change-specific website, this software has so much
potential we just had to tell you about it! This site is a working
demonstration site of a document search engine. Ho hum, you say?
Well, try searching for all documents where "passion" and "living"
occur with 25 words of each other. You soon begin to get an idea
of the power and value of their engine.
Their demonstration library contains more than 123,000 documents,
including the "Complete Works of Shakespeare", the King James Version
of The Bible, and many others. Give it a try!.
DISCLAIMER
The contents herein are solely the opinions of Lifescope editors, and should
not be considered as a form of therapy nor advice. There is no guarantee of
validity or accuracy. Lifescope therefore assumes no responsibility for injury
and specifically disclaims any warranty, express or implied, of fitness or
merchantability for a particular purpose. Besides, actual mileage may vary.
Copyright © 1998-2007 by Lifescope Inc.
Permission is granted to reproduce or distribute this newsletter
only in its entirety and provided copyright is acknowledged.
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