Life holds us by the horns and tell us that our lives need to be run a certain way. The stresses of every day life are the ones that we give the most attention to leaving our aspirations and dreams to fall by the way side. It is our responsibilities, expectations and perceived obligations that are the reason we move in and out of our created world every day. But, there was once passion in our lives and that passion can still be reborn in our newer, more adult lifestyles.

In order to attempt a self-help method of reintroducing happiness and passion into our lives, we must first ask ourselves a few questions. What made us happy as children? What life goals did we have when we were young? What did we want to be?

In order to find happiness, we all need to look deep into ourselves and find the things that make us who we really are. Those things that make us smile and whistle when no one else seems to be feeling our happiness. These are the things that need to be the center of our worlds, these are the passions that need to fuel our lives.

As we grow up and grow older, we often take the more traveled road to adulthood. We attend college and achieve degree status in order to obtain a “real” job. This conformation to societal ideals about living often leave the passions that once gave us fire and hope dead in the water. Women give up their dreams to raise children, men leave the their true callings behind for fear of not being what their families would hope they would become. When we leave our passions behind, who are we really becoming and is that person the true person we always wanted to be?

What are you passionate about? That may be the hardest question to answer on your path to happiness. Your passion was once something that drove you every day and once time and reality took over, that passion became dormant and unneeded. Now, finding that passion again will take time, diligence and an attention to ourselves that we are not accustomed to taking.

Once that passion is rediscovered, never lose it again. There is a reason why the youth of the world do not listen to what society has to say and that is passion. Never letting the world take too firm a hold on your life is at the heart of your happiness. Sure, supporting your family is necessary and working is an inevitable evil, but that is not all the world is made of. Our passions are what make us unique and if we find them again, we need to hold on for dear life.

There is no amount of money in the world that can measure up to the payment your passion can provide. While the payment may not increase your checkbook or give you that promotion at work, it will give you back a sense of yourself that has been lost for a very long time.

Stop right now and think about those things that made youth so wonderful. If only for a moment, take a step back 10, 20, 30, 50 years and find that one thing that drove your mind to the limits of happiness. Once you have that thought firmly in your grasp, go for it!