Do you have a clear and strong passion in life? Something that really makes you excited about jumping out of bed in the morning, and that makes you feel as though you are living in line with a clear and uplifting purpose?
It might be that your particular passion is makeup, or making music, or helping other people. Whatever the case - simply having something that you are deeply invested in, and that gives your life a rich sense of meaning, can be a total game changer. It can help to carry you through difficult times, give you inspiration, and make the story of your life into an exciting adventure rather than a grind from one day to the next.
But what if you don't have any passion in life as of yet? Well, the obvious answer is that you should work on discovering and creating something to be passionate about.
Here are just a few ways you can set about discovering your passion in life.
Live an active life, and try many things
In order to discover what you are passionate about in life - in practice, and not just in theory - it's necessary for you to live an active and outgoing life, and to try many things.
The world is full of opportunities, different paths and hobbies you can try out, and projects you can engage yourself in. And you will only be able to get a true sense of how you feel about a lot of those things by engaging with them in person.
By living in outgoing and adventurous life, you may well discover things that you are passionate about that you never would have thought you would feel that way about, beforehand. Or, it may be the case that you simply discover new and exciting interests as you accumulate more experiences and insight over the course of your everyday life.
If, however, you sit at home and remain in your comfort zone for the majority of the time, the odds are vastly diminished that you will discover your passion in life.
Explore things that you feel naturally interested in
While your natural sense of interest in different topics may not necessarily be a perfect representation of what you will find most meaningful, or what you will be passionate about in practice, it's certainly still the case that your interests will tend to point you in that sort of direction.
Every time you feel interested in something, there's a reason for it. Usually that reason will be that you find something meaningful about the subject in question - at least theoretically. In many cases, therefore, you owe it to yourself to explore your interests and see where the path leads you.
If you've always loved the idea of making music, but have never got around to picking up an instrument and making an earnest attempt at it, you may be robbing yourself of a deep source of passion and meaning in your life, due to your own inertia.
It might be the case that when you do pick up an instrument you find that you don't really like the process of making music half as much as you like listening to it. But until you've pursued and investigated that interest of yours, you won't know for sure whether you are missing out on something potentially life changing or not.
Take some chances, and get in touch with your creative side
To a significant extent, a sense of passion and meaning are frequently closely connected to creative endeavours. The things that you "make" and "bring to life," and that you can pour your self-expression into.
The thing about expressing your creative side is that it comes with risks and challenges - not least of all to your own sense of confidence and self esteem.
Generally speaking, though, you won't be able to pursue the path of meaning in your life unless you are willing to risk some criticism, and put yourself out there.
Get used to your own company
Getting used to your own company is a great way of helping to uncover the things in life that you might find most meaningful and purposeful, rather than just going with the path laid out for you by other people or by society itself.
Consider going for walks in a natural setting and letting your thoughts race. Pay attention to the ideas that pop up, and the ways your own internal monologue goes.