What do you do for the love of it? Do you even know? I, myself, sometimes wonder if I’m engaging in an activity on autopilot or whether it’s something I truly love to do.
For instance, I juggle. I learned this skill when I was working behind the scenes in TV. Bored out of my mind, during one lunch break, I walked over to Barnes and Noble. I probably went in search of some career guides, but I eventually wound up in the hobbies section. There I found a book, Juggling for the Complete Klutz. It comes with three square beanbags (they won’t roll away when you drop them). I said to myself, “Well, I certainly have more coordination than a klutz, so let me try this.” Bought it, and within a matter of weeks, I mastered the Three Ball/Beanbag Cascade.
Over the years, juggling turned out to be a valuable skill. It helped me heal from tendonitis during my doctoral years, and, once I finished my doctorate, my first jobs were professional juggling opportunities, not academic ones. I’ve even developed a course, Juggling for Stress Relief, through which I pass along this skill to others. Some of you reading this post have taken this class from me and can testify to the fact that it’s always fun. There’s a lot of laughter as people discover that they can, indeed, pick up this seemingly daunting skill within an hour.
But recently, I’ve had to ask myself: Do I love juggling? And the answer came back: Not as much as I used to. That may be because I’ve learned all the juggling tricks I ever wanted to. Or it may be that juggling has served the purpose in my life that it needed to serve, and now it’s time for me to focus upon what I really love. What do I really love? Music. I can sing, play piano, or listen to music all day long every day. I never get tired of it, and there’s so much beautiful music to be sung or played, that I will be learning new pieces until I leave the planet.
So on this Valentine’s Day, my advice is to make sure that you’re doing something you love to do. In fact, pamper yourself and do something you love, something that lights up your heart, every day. You’ll be healthier and happier because of it.
And a reminder that if you love music, and you're in SWFL, you're invited to my concert, The Power of Pure Imagination, next Saturday, February 21st, at 4 pm at the Center for Spiritual Living, Cape Coral. Tix on sale in advance at this link, https://cslcc.breezechms.com/form/Imagine; or at the door. Would love to see you!