Color Me Beautiful!

As a ten-year-old, I had no fashion sense. I would thrust my arm into the closet and put on whatever resulted, pretty much. Stripes, plaid, polka-dots, red, taupe, chartreuse, it all worked. I remember my "boyfriend" coming over to our house. We had some plans for the afternoon. He insisted on choosing my wardrobe first, it was that bad.

So I was delighted to find at least one source of help when in the 1980s "Color Me Beautiful" became popular. The consultant seated me in front of a big sunny window, and one by one she draped fabric samples across my front. White or cream? Bright blue or navy? Which fit best? And I was able to see that some colors blended with my coloring and seemed to make me look younger, brighter, prettier! Others made me look drab, old, tired. It turned out I was a "spring." I left with a sample of fabric swatches that I still own today.

I was born with this coloring, and if I am smart and want to look younger, brighter and prettier I'll follow along and choose shades that work with it. Similarly, I was born -- and so were you -- with particular passions and talents.  If I am smart, and want to live in full color, I will let these guide me as I choose where to invest my time, energy and creativity. How about you?

Surrounded by Passion

Watching the Olympics, I was so impressed with the determination and passion of the athletes. It was obvious how much they loved what they were doing, and how committed they were to achieving their best performance. Many of them had been learning their sports since they could walk -- enduring passion.

Even if I could ski more than the bunny slopes, you wouldn't catch me hurling myself off a ski jump. But it does focus the mind to think, "If not that, what? What do I love?"

Ideally, what we love is made visible by what we do -- where we choose to put our energy, effort and time. So here's an example from my house. Last Saturday, I joined a wonderful small group to explore in greater detail two ways of  understanding people and their differences: The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator -- and the theory that surrounds it -- and the Enneagram. Great day, learned lots about myself and others, particularly about the "shadow side." (More on that in a future post.)  I love this stuff.

In another example, this morning, with the thermomenter reading 50 degrees, my husband put on layers of clothes and rode his Honda Shadow motorcycle to Daytona to take in Bike Week. This is a 3-1/2 hour trip each way. He has done this several times already. I cannot imagine spending 7 hours on the highway on a motorcycle, let alone frozen. Yet, he is passionate about riding and he can't wait to get going.

Different people, different passions.

 So, three questions:
1.  What is your passion? 
2.  Are you doing it?
3.  If not, what small step could you take to include your passion in your life?

(For an example of how one person did this: http://www.fullcolorliving.com/Chapter%20One.pdf)