I love my Fridays. I truly do.

Every Friday I am lucky enough to lead a mama group at the Athens Pregnancy Center in Athens, Ga. I cannot wait for 10am to roll around, nor do I want 11:30 am to creep up on me as well. Often enough, we stay together way past the allotted time.

I love these women. In turn, they’ve accepted me. I hope they know that they truly belong there; exactly as they are, because of who they are. In my mind, they are perfect. In my eyes, I’d change nothing about them, only what they themselves want to change in honor of progress and living on another level.

I believe in them.

And I believe in you as well. Otherwise, I would not be writing, spending my time, a precious resource, more precious than gold.

I would be deeply honored if you would stay close to me as I unpack the inPASSION Series over the coming months. They correspond very closely to the material in my Living inPASSION Series of workshops based on my ‘An Everyday Mama Finds a Passionate Life’ book. True story. My story.

You won’t be alone on this journey, our mama group will be right alongside you, spurring you on.

Today was the first day of this introspective material.

But before I get into that, let me tell you how great our mamas are. Sing a few praises.

We welcome every new woman with open arms. No judgement. Just love. Kind advice. Hugs. Prayers.

We tear up together. Laugh together. Dream together.

We share our stories knowing that we will certainly be heard. That someone is on our side.

We check up on our individual progress. We give a bit of our heart each time we come together.

A community of belonging.

I just want to honor them.

Now that I’ve satisfied my desire to brag, let’s move onto the material that may be relevant to you; the material we embarked upon today. These will be slight steps, so as not to overwhelm anyone, but to give everyone enough time to digest and alter their course in life or continue on stronger than ever before.

Our step one, a very important step, is to tap into our authentic selves. We cannot access the passionate side of life if we don’t know who we are, don’t know our inner voice and/or dreams.

The positive news are that you can definitely find the answers to all the three questions. You don’t even need to know the complete answer, but be willing to learn, to access life on another level. As soon as you start being open and willing, things will start to shift for you.

To help you tap into your authentic self, I’ve designed a few exercises that grow into each other and over time you will understand why they’ve been arranged in the order you are about to receive them and the reason behind every question.

To the best of your ability, with every ounce of honesty, please answer the following questions:

1. What did you enjoy doing as a child?
2. What do you enjoy doing now?

Think of activities, things, etc., that made/make you happy.

Take all the time in the world. Don’t rush it. This is not a sprint.

As cliché as it sounds, life is definitely a marathon.

Now that you’ve got those answers down, look back to see if you notice a discrepancy between then and now. Are these answers in stark contrast to each other? Are you surprised that the answers are relatively the same? Have you added on some items as you’ve matured?

By now, you are probably eager to find out why these answers are relevant and why I’ve placed so much importance on them.

Here is why:

I may not be an expert in many things, but in this area, I’ve developed a sixth sense.

The individuals that were successful enough to transition their childhood likes/wants/desires into their adulthood, prioritizing them, including them, and nurturing their inner child in that manner, tend to be the happiest. Especially the ones that were able to hold onto their inner child authenticity AND added on a few mature likes/wants/desires as well. But those are the cherries on top.

If you are in stark contrast to what you used to enjoy to what you enjoy now, it is time to evaluate.

The inner child is still there. Perhaps hidden behind the cares of the world, screen time, and easy fast-food entertainment, but still there, nevertheless. Eager to run around in nature, listen to music, draw, sing, paint, write, explore, express, be silly, be creative, be joyous, willing to connect, willing to try again and again. Fearless. Free. Fun.

If you don’t remember what it is like to be a child, look at the children around you.

If that is not an option, I triple dare you to take on the homework assignment I’ve given to my dear ladies: GO OUT THERE AND HAVE SOME FUN!!!

Remember the word FUN? Children place so much emphasis on that word. Why? Fun allows us to forget about rigidity and to live in the moment, flexible, feeling, free to explore facets of ourselves that can only bloom within that space of possibility.

For all the type A people, don’t overthink this. Smiling at yourself in the mirror can be a great start. Why? Because you may start laughing! You never know where a bit of laughter may take you. Dangerous! (Haha!)

Perhaps looking at yourself in the mirror is something we all must do. No judgement. Just love. Create a space of safety in which the child will be free to peek out, and then perhaps, emerge!

So what happened to your inner child? Perhaps nothing. Perhaps something. What I do know for a fact is that you’ve still got it. As long as you live and breathe…

““““““““““““`

If I made you think just a little bit and you haven’t been put off by it, but in fact, liked it, please come back soon and check up on this series.

You just never know what is waiting for you on the other side of the Door of Possibilities!