Feeling Trapped? Un-trap Yourself by Finding Your Passion!!!

Hey all! I know I've mentioned, in very inconspicuous ways, the difficulties I had been dealing with these past few years. My desire to live and provide a better life for myself and my children kept me motivated to do things beyond the imaginable. But I gotta be honest, I was in a funk and I felt trapped. Now people ask me, especially the ones I coach, how did I get to where I am now? How is it that I have remained positive and in a state of mind where nothing but happiness, joy, productivity and satisfaction are at the beginning and end of each day? The answer is simple: I found my passion and I fueled the heck out of it!
I have made my mistakes and have embarked in different paths that I thought would lead me to live a fulfilling and happy life. For example, I am passionate about higher education and thought my employment in a college or university would  bring me ultimate happiness. I found myself trapped and unable to reach the communities and people I felt I needed and wanted to because I wasn't in a position to do so. I was working within a system where there were rules I had to play by and follow. I don't have a problem following rules, but I am known for being quite the feisty one who always challenges them. I wasn't happy there and I didn't feel like I was in a supportive environment so I took a chance and left my job to find my passion. I didn't want to be trapped any longer.
Untrapping myself was the hard part, finding my passion was then easy.
The first thing I had to do was abandon my fears. Do not be afraid to try new things or to let go of old habits. Most successful entrepreneurs have one thing in common - they take risks.
I feared being broke, sure, but I knew deep down that if I invested my time, energy  and money in developing myself and my dreams, there would be 2 outcomes: I would either fail or succeed. Failure was not an option as I had my back against the wall with personal situations involving family and relationships that needed my attention immediately. I had no choice but to succeed.

One of my passions - being a make-up
artist and making women look gorgeous.
I turned this into a career. 

Then I learned to find peace in solitude. Most people don't like being alone. It sucks, especially when you are dealing with a lot on your plate. However, being alone could be the biggest and best gift you could give yourself. Time alone helped me find inner peace. I was able to identify the things, people and actions that made my heart jump for joy and happiness, and able to think about the negative experiences that made me upset and sad so I didn't allow myself to relive them. Once I was able to identify those things, there was clarity about where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do and with whom.
So now you have this fearless individual who is not afraid of much, doesn't care if shes's alone or not, and who has clarity. Now what? Well, now you can do whatever you want!

You never know where your passions will lead you.

I began my process by fueling my passions in whichever way I possibly could. What are my passions? I love writing. When I pick a specific topic, I can feel my heart beating faster, and my hairs stand up. My heart signals my brain, and I start speaking in my head and my fingers do the typing. My passion to write has always been there and comes naturally. You need to find that one thing or things that have always been there, regressed, trapped and in hiding in order to move forward. Your body will tell you what your passion is because you will get a physical reaction from it that is distinguishable from anything else you've ever felt. It's a wonderful feeling, euphoric almost. I feel the same way when I am getting ready to compete, doing my cardio, training day in and out. I am passionate about that too.
Once you learn what your passions are, the ways in which you can fuel them will come to you. Do you trust me on this?  I found many venues to fuel my passions - my blog, learning and maintaining my website, social media, and pretty much any way I could reach out to people via the words I write. I even made the decision to follow up on a short narrative story I had been writing for years to finally publish (not the easiest thing on this planet either...but I dream big. LOL)
You know how to be alone now, and  you CAN be alone, but we all need help from time to time. Now it's time to sort through your friends. I am not saying go on a FB friend deletion spree, or hate people or dismiss them, but quite contrary, keep everyone intact. We are all exactly where we need to be in other people's lives. However, there are those who you need to reach out to in order to be able to move forward. I believe in surrounding yourself with the best in order to be the best and AT your best. Only YOU can determine and define what "best" is and who those people you need to get there are. Pick your crowds carefully, especially if you are involved in the fitness industry. When you reach out, the worse thing anyone could ever tell you is no. I have personally experienced many people closing their doors on me, shutting me down, or not even wanting to give me a chance at something I know I can do well but my PASSION kept me fueled enough to not allow that to stop me. I abandoned that self-defeat mentality once and for all and kept it moving.

Once I found my passions and un-trapped myself
I began to live. It was like I was born again!

Be determined, but be determined with a plan. Again, once you find your passion, everything else falls into place. You will find yourself being very tactical about everything you do because you want to succeed at whatever it is you want to do in life. You do not want to be or feel trapped again! This tactic could also be your plan of action.
Every interaction you have, every person you meet, everything you do from the moment you wake up, to the  minute you go to bed should nourish your passions. I love going to bed at night feeling like I've accomplished something and if not, having faith that I can and WILL do it the next day.
Un-trap yourself by following your PASSIONS. It will pay off in one way or another!