Passion And Zest For Life … The Ingredients To A Healthy Ever After

Is there a link between our well-being and how enjoyable we find our daily lives?   Most of us will agree that we continuously seek fulfilling daily experiences.  Yet, we may spend much or our day pursuing tasks that are not intrinsically interesting. Can this impact our health?

According to www.naturalnews.com, “People who are happier and more satisfied with their lives might also enjoy better health, said a study led by Mohammad Siahpush, Ph.D., professor of health promotion at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.  “Everything else being equal, if you are happy and satisfied with your life now, you are more likely to be healthy in the future,” said Siahpush.” (January 19, 2009)

Beyond a healthy diet and exercise, what is another ingredient for good health? Cultivating passion is a wonderful recipe towards optimizing health.  Improving well-being can be as simple as reigniting your zest for life. It need not involve a full career or life make-over, which may be neither practical nor feasible.  Instead, it can be as simple as changing your perspective on your life.  This alone may be enough to launch you towards greater enjoyment and value fulfillment … and ultimately, improved overall health.

What steps can be taken to get started on this journey towards connecting with more passion for life?

• Pay attention to areas of your life that you find fulfilling on a daily basis.  You can jot these down, or simply make a mental note:

• • Where do you find your satisfaction?
    What motivates and drives you?
    What gives you a sense of fulfillment?

• Notice what excites you.  Try to incorporate more of these activities into your life. Hobbies are a great way to explore new interests or revisit enjoyable pastimes that you have not recently made time for or prioritized.
• Notice aspects of your day for which you are grateful.  Concentrate and cultivate these areas.
• Lastly, be playful.  A child’s connection to their passion is effortless.  They delight in small pleasures and brim with excitement.  Children are perfect role models for adults, especially those of us who may have a tendency to take life too seriously.

As Thomas J. Peters put succinctly, “Celebrate what you want to see more of”, and watch your energy and vitality grow.