One of my favorite sayings is “Live for something”. Something, anything, which means a lot to you. Something which will drive you to be the best version of you. This something will be drastically different for everyone.

My passion is, and always has been, health/fitness/sports/athletics. When I was home over the holidays, my mom gave me a bag of old photos and school work – doubles of stuff she had… or stuff she just didn’t want anymore. In grade school, we did an “autobiography” book in which we answered a variety of questions.

Another prime quote from this book was that I felt bad for hating my brother. At least i felt bad…?

Apparently I was cautious about declaring a profession, but had no problem saying I’d be an athlete. We all got a good laugh out of this.

But, it turned out to be pretty much true. Regardless of the sport of choice, I’ve always loved being active. From practice to competition, the feeling of pushing myself physically has always driven me.

My tee-ball / baseball career was short lived. But, I did get to play in a skills competition on the SkyDome field!

Even though I strongly believe everyone needs to be active for general health purposes – so what if fitness isn’t your passion? It doesn’t have to be. Be active to be healthy and find what drives you.  What makes you happiest? Art, music, poetry, writing, cooking, decorating? The options are endless.

Skating was a huge fitness passion for most of my life. It opened a lot of doors and allowed me so many experiences. It taught me a lot of life lessons which continue to help me.

Everyone is different, so what speaks to you won’t be the same as anyone else. In high school I was also in the band because I loved the challenge of learning music and getting it perfect (I played the flute, in case you were wondering). I also love to read (mostly trashy fiction books to balance the academic reading I do at work), and bake. While these other things are hobbies, nothing will take the place of fitness as my passion. There was never a doubt in my mind that I would study health at university and would somehow make a career out of it. I’m truly lucky to be doing what I wanted.

Bodybuilding has become my fitness related passion. It’s an outlet which allows me to push myself and see progress. Competing gives me a goal and a focus. The strength, both mental and physical, I have gained has been priceless.

Finding something that sparks you, that pushes you to work towards a goal is important. Having something to set goals around, focus on, and challenge yourself is beneficial in a number of ways. When you improve and reach goals, it provides a great confidence boost. Working towards something new will inevitably involve learning, which is always good for your mental health. As you get more involved in your passion, you’ll meet new people, expanding your social network with like-minded new friends. Simply spending time doing what you love is a stress release. No matter WHAT your passion is, these benefits exist.

So, find it. Find your “thing” and dive in. It won’t always be easy, in fact, some days might be impossibly hard. But when you truly love something, those days are outnumbered by the great ones. The benefits you’ll experience along the way will be worth it, I promise.  So, get out there and live for something – anything!

*Thanks to my parents for the wonderful picture library!