How To Find Your Passion And Make Your Life Count!

By Sandy Daley

The 2011 hit “Bridesmaids” is one of my favourite movies of all times; and I must shamefully admit that I have watched it at least a dozen times. Poor Annie Wiig could not catch a break if her life depended upon it! The long and short of the story is that she begins to lose confidence in herself, in her ability to find the right man, in her career choices, in her passions and what she has been placed on this earth to do (this all happens when she has been asked to serve as the maid of honour at her best friend Lillian’s wedding).

She drives a crappy car, lives with two crazy British roommates who end up kicking her out of her own apartment, her lover does not allow her to sleep over after a night of passionate love making, and when she meets a wonderful man she does not appreciate him and has no clue how to treat him. To add to her embarrassment, the poor thing has to move back home with “mommy” in order to have a roof over her head. The acting is superb and the jokes are a plenty!

The pity party that she throws for herself is one of the best that I have seen to date! The funny thing is that this single woman, who is desperately seeking love and validation from others, is a phenomenal baker who once had a thriving bakery; although she unfortunately had to close up shop at one point in the past.

Like Annie, we have all been there. We cling to things that we do not need to, beg for affection, validation, love and acceptance from others who do not deserve our time, and while we are focused on these negative aspects of our lives, we forget who we truly are. We push our passions aside and allow others to make us feel less than, when we truly are more than “diamonds in the rough”.

The question remains, how do you become “all that you can truly be”? When do you allow yourself to focus on your own passions, and let that be your guide for every sector of your life? To achieve this, you must start at the beginning and begin to dream as you did when you were a young child. What is it that your heart truly desires? If you have always wanted to be an actress, but instead lost your drive along the way, you can certainly regain that love for the stage by enrolling in evening classes at your local theatre; even after you have made supper for the kids and hired a babysitter or left them in the care of your husband. It can be done, and your dreams, however big or small, are true indicators of whom and what we are meant to do in this world. As I always say, “Dream big, or don’t dream at all.”

The next things to do is to look at all your activities, and decide whether or not you need to be involved in each one, or is it just another insignificant factor in your life? Could you be doing something better with your time? Is your time being “well served”?  It might be difficult at first, but I am convinced that once you begin to prioritize your time, you will recognize the value of your life.

Another helpful tip is to think about a job that you would love to do, even if you were not getting paid to do it, and at that exact moment you will truly find your passion. Many of us spend our days chasing a career that we are not happy with, that our souls are not connected to; just to bring home a pay check. Obviously, one has to be responsible by taking care of our families, paying our taxes and our bills etc., but I do believe that true happiness can also be achieved when we are passionate about what we do.

We cannot continue to live unhappy lives; similar to Annie. The great thing with Annie (because Bridesmaids was a movie of course), was that she was able to resolve her issues for the most part in 125 minutes; however, the minutes of our lives are just a tad bit longer.

Unfortunately, most of our lives will not be plastered on film, nominated for Oscars, produced by Judd Apatow or co-starred by Melissa McCarthy. We have one life to live, so make it count, as at the end of our lives, there will be no shouts or screams from a director to “Take Two”!

Sandy Daley is a columnist, radio and television personality and actress. She is also the author of “Whose Vagina Is It, Really?” She can be contacted at: Website: www.sandydaley.com, Facebook: womanincontrol@facebook.com, Twitter: twitter.com/whosevaginaisit and/or Email:thesinglegirlspot@gmail.com.