The best advice ever given to me about finding your passion was to never stop. Work on your passion every day. Even when you don't feel like it or if it's only for a minute. Thinking about it might help. Carve out time to specifically work on your passion and do not let anyone or anything interfere. In doing so, your happiness will increase and you will also have a greater understanding of who you want to become. It’s also vital to remember that there will be good days and bad. This drastically adds to the progress that can be made along the way. I only wish I had believed in this advice and followed it sooner.

For me, this passion is writing. Other interests such as reading, psychology, and nature hold my attention as well. Until recently, I didn’t accept these parts of myself. Writing about my frustrations helped and it was easier to figure out the ways in which walls had been constructed around my life. I actively tried to understand why I couldn’t let myself be happy. Then the realization hit that it’s because I didn’t conform to the majority of society. Happiness is what matters most in this life and all of the other things vying for my attention were distracting me from that.

As humans, we make things harder on ourselves because we think it has to be difficult in order to be worth the effort. We believe that the universe can’t possibly be working in our favor. But when you take a step back to look at all the things that have come into your life or things that keep coming back to you, there might be a reason for those. We are more likely to notice something if it keeps repeating itself, so pay attention to anything that makes a comeback. Repetition is the key. It could be trying to flag you down for an experience of a lifetime.

Furthermore, humans tend to give up on something they’ve been working on for an extended amount of time if the results aren’t what they expected. Criticism is another blockade that stops people in their tracks. It is through these trials where we learn the most about ourselves. By continuing to take a chance on yourself, your mind is figuring out the paths that don’t work and making notes about your mistakes. Perseverance and dedication can be worth it in the end if you continually take a chance on your passions. When you find your passion, it lights up your world where once you may have seen darkness. Once you acknowledge the things that have been standing in your way, then no one can take your progress away from you. And that is worth it every time.