I have been on a spiritual journey since about June of 2008. During the course of this journey I have read many books, including Janet and Chris Attwood's The Passion Test. I'm reading the book again because I have a coaching client to whom I've recommended it. Janet recommends that you take the passion test every six months. So, I'm way overdue to retake it at this point. Reading through it again with my client will give me a good reason to revisit it for myself as well.

Here is what I came up with the first (and so far only) time I took the passion test:

Marc's Passion Test

10/27/09

When my life is ideal I am:

  1. Living with respect for all living beings
  2. Spending my money in ways that reflect my true values
  3. Inspiring others to live the life of their dreams
  4. Traveling around the world as a motivational speaker
  5. Exercising every day

This or something better!

I'm not going to analyze each of the five points and decide whether I am fulfilling each one or not. Instead, I'll give a quick reflection on where my life stands now compared to when I took the test.

Let me start with a few pertinent facts. Right now, it's 11:45AM on Monday. I set my alarm for 8:45AM. I haven't started "working" yet today. So far, what I have done is to meditate and eat breakfast. After I finish this blog post, I will get to work on the website I am building for the Research Computing department at the University of Colorado at Boulder (you'll find it in my web development portfolio when it's finished). The preceding facts establish that I am currently gainfully self-employed with the ability to set my own schedule. By my reckoning, that's pretty wonderful.

At the time I took the passion test, I had no plan to become a web developer. I wanted to be a motivational speaker and life coach. (I still want to be those things. It's just going to happen in a different time frame than I had originally planned. I have already started the process of being a life coach.) My path to becoming a web developer started in January 2010, which is when I started teaching myself Drupal, php, mySQL, and xHTML. Now, just over one year later I am juggling several other web development projects in addition to the CU Boulder project. I have also taught myself WordPress (to a certain extent) and completed developing a custom WordPress theme, completed several customizations of Pinnacle Cart, and picked up a bit of JavaScript and jQuery. Anyone who has read my other blog posts can appreciate how much of a change this is in my life.

Another significant change from the time I took the passion test is that my wife and I are in the process of having a child. Specifically, we are in the very beginning of that process. In fact, calling this a "significant" change is more than just a little bit of an understatement.

So, things aren't going exactly as I had planned almost one year and three months ago. But, I must admit that I am extremely happy with where my life is at this moment and will gratefully continue following this path. If I'm not living my "ideal" life right now, then at least I'm living something that's moving in the right direction and is already reasonably close. I believe that taking the passion test, as well as the other work I'm doing on my spiritual journey, has brought me to this point. I also believe that it's definitely time to retake the passion test. I'll post my latest results when I have completed it.

I give thanks to the Universe for the abundance it provides me. I surrender and am open and ready to receive.

In love, peace, and true purpose,

Marc