by Dr. Yurij Chewpa
I have been challenged the last couple of years with this question. Am I really excited about life? Do I have a zest for life? Do I ooze joy? I don't know – and I'm not the one who can answer that for me. Only others can see if I am a passion filled person. So my question then really is do others see a passion in me?
I don't mean a hyped up frenzy or an emotional high – I mean a genuine and contagious joy.
So my purpose is to choose to be joyful. This may seem like an odd thing to choose, but this is where the solutions lies.
I remember hearing a speaker say: "In a marriage when the early days of infatuation fades there comes a time where we must choose to remain in love." He went on to explain: "The couple that can fully commit to this level of thinking and loving will make it." He also went on to give some very practical examples of how the "fire" can still be kindled in a relationship so the passion still remains. He was a strong supporter of an enjoyable marriage, not an endurance marriage.
I totally agree that life (and relationships) is to be enjoyed, not endured. So I'm not talking about gritting your teeth and being joyful. I'm talking about making a conscious decision to be joyful and passionate about life. So how do you do it?
1. Get on purpose and get things right. Stop doing the things that are hurting you – smoking, poor eating habits, missing your chiropractic adjustments. These things are killing you. The crazy thing is you know that and you still keep doing it.
2. Ask God for strength and commitment every day. This is what makes or breaks it for me. Ask my team if they know when I start my day out by talking with God. They know when I'm just trying to do it on my own strength – it comes off fake and flat.
3. Separate yourself from boarder bullies. These are the negative people in the world. When you try to be more, do more, improve yourself and your life, they're trying to put you back in your box. They say things like you can't, you'll never do it, that's crazy, etc. Avoid them. They are joy robbers and passion stealers.
This is how to begin the transformation from a life of existence to a life of excellence.
Dr. Pierre Paradis is a Kanata Chiropractor. He is a Certified Maximized Living Mentor and is the co-owner of Hazeldean Family Chiropractic Clinic in Kanata, Ontario, which has won the Kanata Kourier-Standard Reader’s Choice award for 2009, 2010, 2011, as well as the Ottawa West Magazine Reader’s Choice Award for 2011.