Passion + Purpose + People =

The Secret Sauce of a Great Life

Roast chicken, perfectly mashed potatoes, green peas slathered in butter, tossed garden salad, a variety of homemade pickles – all simple fare, masterfully cooked not by a chef in a white apron but by a grey haired lady in a simple house dress . The laminate table, dressed in antique linens and set with seasoned china dishes and paper napkins is not located in a fancy dining room. This hostess has carved out a serving place in an unused bedroom in her diminutive Senior’s apartment to feed people’s bodies and souls.

Passion (Giving people a place to belong) + Purpose (Mad cooking skills) + People (the lonely, the outsiders, the fringe dwellers.) has equalled the makings of a great life for this lady.

Is it because she has lots of time on her hand? No, she volunteers on the hospital auxiliary. She volunteers at the Senior’s Home helping with luncheons and special activities. She volunteers at the local thrift store working the till and adding stitches to quilts that will be sent abroad. I suspect there are a ton of other ways she pours herself out in her community that doesn’t involve an official volunteer title. (And if you know her, don’t tell her I’ve written about her. She doesn’t do it for the recognition and I’m sure the recognition would ruin it for her. Just hug her and tell her she’s pure gold.)

Is it because she has had the perfect life and wants to share it? Not really. Her husband of many years is now in a Senior’s home but she was his caregiver for many decades. When mental illness meant he could no longer be a contribute to the household income, she – despite her cultural tradition that said women stayed home – went to work. She provided for their needs and opened her home to 3 adopted children. One of those children died suddenly in her twenties leaving her a grandchild to raise. Life has not been easy – but I’ve never heard that from her lips.

Why does she do it? I marvel at her. In many ways she could easily chose a different life and no one would fault her for it. Why would she spend her meager resources on extra groceries for these meals? Everyone would understand if she decided she had worked hard her whole life and it was time for someone to look after her. Self-pity is glaringly absent in her attitude.

Why does she do it? Because she sees people that don’t have family, she sees people who may be lonely and struggling and without fanfare she opens her makeshift dining room, cooks a fantastic meal and gathers them to eat, to connect with others struggling in their own way and enjoy good food with games to follow. This woman is passionate about including the outsiders and looking after the lonely. She quietly does what she can with what she has been given for the people who cross her path. The woman is quietly and unassumingly amazing!

Passion

+ Purpose

+ People

___________

The Secret Sauce to a Great Life

Passion: What stirs you? What pulls at your heart strings? What excites you?

So often we think of this on a grand scale and we wish we were Oprah and could provide a village in Africa with water. If you can, go for it. But if your resources are much less, start where you are. So often though we dismiss our passions instead of being curious about them. Why does that particular thing make you cry? Is there a calling in that? When we minimize our passion and squash our curiosity, we end up either spending the energy totally on ourselves or we dump it in the “not worthy” thought pile.

Say, for example, you have a passion for shoes. I know at first thought that doesn’t seem like a very save-the-world-ish, powerful cause but stick with me and hold the shoe thought for a moment.

Purpose: What are you skilled at? What are your gifts and talents? What are your resources? (Time? Money?)

Again, too often we look at the big stuff. We are so good at the stuff we are good at, we don’t even see it. What are your friends amazed that you can do easily? What do you do for fun that others might consider work?

Let’s return to our shoe thought: Do you have mad shopping skills? Do you have time to shop? Do you have money to buy a pair of shoes? 100 pairs of shoes?

People: Who in your world needs you to show up fully?

Who is missing out because you minimize your passion and assume your purpose isn’t worth anything? Whose life is lesser because you are too afraid to put yourself out there?

With our shoe example in mind: Who in your world needs you to show up fully with your glorious passion for shoes and your savvy shopping skills? Who can be blessed by this?

Here are a few suggestions:

When you buy shoes or are buying gifts, consider buying Toms so a pair gets donated.
Check with your local school, do they need extra gym shoes for those that don’t have them?
Check with a local church or food bank.Are there children/families that could use new shoes?
Women’s Shelters – Is there anyone that would love a new pair of shoes?

We used a simple example of shoes but you can easily insert any passion that nibbles at the corners of your heart and apply it.

The most dynamic part of this Passion + Purpose + People formula is that it transcends your job status, your economic status and your age. You can pursue this formula whether you are in school, in a job that you’re less than passionate about or retired. There are some people who are able to work a job that pays them for living out that formula but if you are not one of those and your job is simply a means to pay the bills and provide for the family – this formula can bring life back into your off hours. Don’t fall into the trap of working a job you aren’t passionate about and then falling in front of the tv at the end of the day waiting for the weekend, or vacation, or worse – retirement. Start to explore, get curious about your passion, how can what you are enjoy and what you are skilled at be used to help out in some area? Here is another example:

Do it Together

I met a Salon Owner who used to be part of a Splurge group. (In case you don’t know, Splurge groups are gatherings of women who meet every month to enjoy good food together. They put $10-20 in a pot and every month someone from the group is drawn to take the jackpot home and splurge on themselves.) The salon owner I talked to thoroughly enjoyed the social gathering and food but she felt she didn’t really need the jackpot. If she really wanted something, she could buy it. In a moment of brilliant inspiration, she gathered a group of like-minded women and every month instead of giving the jackpot to a lady to spend on themselves, that lady was to pick a local charity or need for them to donate to. Isn’t that a fantastic idea?

“Squandering our gifts brings distress to our lives. As it turns out, it’s not merely benign or “too bad” if we don’t use the gifts that we’ve been given; we pay for it with our emotional and physical well-being…We feel disconnected and weighed down by feelings of emptiness, frustration, resentment, shame, disappointment, fear, and even grief.”

Brene Brown, Gifts of Imperfection

They had such fun with this, getting creative on how to give each month and eliminating the monthly dollar amount so all could give freely as they were able. It also helped open their eyes, keeping a watch in their communities for needs they could meet. One month they supplied the Crisis Nursery with hundreds of new pajamas…because if a crisis happens and you have to be away from your mom and dad, wouldn’t it be great to at least have a cozy pair of pj’s to snuggle in? They provided several month’s worth of taxi fare for an elderly man to go visit his wife who was in long-term care with Alzheimer’s. They bought bus passes for an immigrant family struggling to make it through their first Canadian winter. Doesn’t that excite you? Can you see the possibilities?

Passion + Purpose + People = The Secret Sauce of Life

What are you passionate about? Get curious about what has been placed in your heart and don’t discount and minimize it.

What is your purpose? There is no one with your unique gifts and talents and abilities. How are you supposed to use them?

Who are your people? Whose life isn’t as full because you ignore your passions and minimize your purpose? Who needs you to take a small step in the right direction.

In the comments below, I would like you to have a look at the people in your world. Who is using their passion & purpose to help the people in your world? Tell us about them in the comments below. We need new ideas and sources of inspiration. And the people who do this – they
need to be celebrated. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Passion + Purpose + People = The Secret Sauce of a Great Life