I’m just back from a staycation, a much needed break from work and a daily schedule slowly moving from rewarding to routine. I decided to take the time to revitalize my mind without the traveling, packing and jet lag. My goal was not a glowing tan but to reinvigorate my passion for life. And to practice what I preach.

It’s important for all of us to take control of our daily activities and the decisions we make that determine the direction of life’s trajectory. Getting stuck in a routine takes the spontaneity out of life. There is a need to change up the rhythm. Life is better as an improvisation rather than a pre-written script.

We must learn to think for ourselves, which is not as simple as it sounds, brainwashed from childhood by family and societal influences telling us what to do and what to believe, guiding us on an elusive pursuit of happiness that may not be our true path.

Often, from early on, the directives we are urged to follow – climb to the top, be a leader, don’t rock the boat, strive, succeed, win, win, win, – come from a social order that overemphasizes ‘results’ (profits, productivity, outcomes, efficiency) at the expense of personal, human experiences.

I am a light year away from the philosophy major who can quote Kierkegaard (I can barely spell his name) but when I came across this quote, I cut and pasted: “What I really need to be clear about is what I am to do, not what I must know … the thing is to find a truth which is truth for me, to find the idea for which I am willing to live and die.” The dying part is more than I recommend but finding your truth, your passion, is the goal of our work together; helping you to uncover your authentic self, and to live an interesting and enjoyable life with integrity at its core.

When we find ourselves going from day to day doing the same unvarying things, our passion ebbing, we risk slipping into melancholy and asking the mournful, glum questions ‘Why am I here?’ That’s when we must renew our zest for life, create new experiences, and remind ourselves that living our truth is infinitely more important than objectively knowing it.

It’s up us to decide the kind of person we want to be and to declare why I am here!