Dr. Martha’s Monday Motivational

Monday, May 16, 2011

Can you remember the first time you fell “in love”.  I was twelve years old and his name was Greg.  I thought he hung the moon.  He was the cool basketball player and I was a cheerleader.  In my mind he was a hunk and I was a super lucky girl to be “going out” with him. Because we were in love I felt the need to tell everyone.  I wanted to make sure that everyone knew I was head over heels for Greg.  To make sure that everyone was clear he was mine I wrote his name on my jeans in pen (crossing fingers it would be permanent), I scribbled “I heart Greg” on my new white Keds, and made sure when decorating for basketball games my pom-pom hung on the wall by his basketball.  It didn’t matter what others thought, it only matter that they knew I was all about Greg. As a constant reminder to all that he was mine I made sure to talk about him constantly day and night.  Plain and simple, I was in love with Greg!

Looking back I am not sure I was really “in love” or maybe it’s just that my understanding of what “in love” is has just changed.  One thing I do know is that I really, really liked Greg and was passionate about him.  As I have aged falling in love is different, more real and with more substance. I have also come to the realization that falling in love is not limited to finding a mate.

What is falling love? I think it varies from person to person and from personality type to type, especially when we look at its expression.  But, across the board its safe to say that falling in love creates a sense of invincibility that enables an individual do what may be considered “crazy”. The intense emotions that come from falling love almost gives the impression that when in love you are exactly that invincible.

The intensity of being “in love” escalates with age.  Where in junior high you simply write on your jeans or held hands everywhere you went the stakes change.  Driving hundreds of miles to spend a few hours with someone, talking endless hours on the phone, staying awake to talk rather than sleep, or even serenading publicly despite being tone deaf are all things which being in love will drive you to perform.  Just like the stakes change as we age they also change when we go from person to career.

Passion can be equated to falling in love.  We have all met those people who absolutely love what they do.  Their sheer love of what they do evokes strong emotion from all who they come in contact with,  paving a way for others to get lost in their euphoria.  We call these people passionate and you could safely say that they were “in love” with what they do. Just talking to them gets your heart racing you are flooded with feel good endorphins. Listening to them express love for their what they do allows you, for a moment in time, to escape your world and enter into theirs.  Many times their passion evokes such emotion that  you are lead to purchase what they have to sell or find yourself wanting to learn more about their art or product.  Passionate people will do whatever it takes to convey their message.  They will write about it, wear clothing that expresses and educates, spend countless hours enhancing their knowledge, increasing awareness to the public, and the list goes on.  Regardless of what they do it is safe to assume they are in love with their art.

Do people know what you do?  Would people call you passionate? Does your love of what you do evoke an emotion from others? If so, awesome, keep up the great work! If not and it’s what you want then start to take ownership.  Give yourself permission to fall in love with what you do. When we fall in love with a person the return is their love that gives a warmth in our heart and drives us to love more.  Falling in love what you do is similar as it gives a return in the form of fulfillment and purpose compelling us to pour more of ourselves into what we do.  The passion then becomes the fuel that drives us

Love. Laugh. Adjust.

Dr. Martha Nessler, Innate Girl