passion.

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."- Howard Thurman

Passion: an intense desire or enthusiasm for something. Do you have something in your life that you love, desire, and get excited about?? I'm betting there is at least one thing you can think of. If not, there's no time like the present to find out! A good way to start is by looking at what you spend most of your time talking about... and what do you do in your spare time? If you find yourself mostly consumed with work, school, eating and television then I challenge you to look beyond those things for a moment. What is something you used to get excited about before you got too busy??

A good friend of mine, who travels the world and speaks on destiny and purpose, usually starts off his conversations with the question, “ If you had a million dollars what would you do?” As soon as he says it, the crowd begins dreaming. You can almost see their eyes light up with excitement envisioning all the possibilities. Once the answers begin to surface, everyone starts to recognize their true passions. Unfortunately, most of us wait until we have time, money or resources to do the things we truly love and sadly that time for many of us never comes. This is why we take the moment before us to seek the very things that make us come alive and begin to pursue them no matter what.

If you are even reading this I'd say you are at least passionate about travel, culture, people, and serving. That's a great start! What else? Do you love photography, teaching, dance, kids, sports, art, singing, exercise?? Don't stop there! There are millions of things we could be passionate about. It's amazing to then find ways in which we can help the world with them!!! But first, go ahead and make a list. Write down all of the things you would love to do, or try, if money were no object and time didn't exist. Now, put a star next to the ones you are actually gifted in or have had some training in. Here's the fun part: start brainstorming!!! Last but not least... find ways to put it into action. I'm almost positive you'll discover a cool way to use that passion to serve other people all over the world!

I remember making a list like this about 10 years ago. I started writing down all of the things that I loved to do, or that really intrigued me. At the time I was just getting into photography and writing, but already knew I loved to travel, help people, and hang out with kids. I thought to myself how wonderful it would be to one day be able to do all of those things, unsure if my dream would ever be a reality. Now, I look at my life and almost loose my breath in amazement. I now serve with an organization where I get to travel the whole world, help all kinds of people, hang out with plenty of children, and document these unbelievable cultures and people with my photojournalism skills. Now, I truly am living my dream... but it all started with a passion to live life to the fullest, to love unconditionally, and to serve selflessly with the gifts God has given me.