Finding Your Zest!
"Find my zest? I need my glasses to find my glasses - and now I'm supposed to be looking for zest? Are you kidding? I don't have time for zest. I don't even know what zest is and I probably wouldn't have the energy for it if I did."

Does that sound like something you might say if asked about your zest? You know the question is not about a brand of bath soap, but an element of your life that may be missing. Do you remember the energy you had when you were just a tot? As a little kid, you were invincible! You wanted to learn everything and nothing swayed you from asking for more.

But then, you weren't weighed down with responsibilities and obligations. You didn't have sore feet and an aching back and you weren't so damn tired all the time. Of course not - because you only did things that made you happy. Why aren't you doing that now? Where did we learn that being an adult meant drudgery? It's doing what we find meaningless that saps our energy.

Finding your zest isn't another obligation or duty, but it is about locating something you've misplaced. And to do that, you may have to clear out a lot of junk. We know it is the painful lessons that get our attention. But then, they're only lessons. Try this experiment: Take yourself out of the picture for a moment. Look at the hurtful events of your life dispassionately and ask, "What can I learn from this?" Ask honestly. "Is there something positive I can see? Maybe a mistake I won't make again. Perhaps a re-evaluation of my own motives and expectations. Can I be a wiser, more compassionate woman? Can I learn not to judge or be ruled by the judgment of others?"

You may find other answers. Don't expect them to come immediately or with absolute clarity. And once you start looking at your life this way and asking these questions, you may never stop. But when the answers come to you remember to say thanks for the lesson, embrace the learning and, most importantly, move on. There's no need to re-visit all the injustices of your life once you understand and accept their purpose. Then, you can discover your own.

Which brings us back to zest, and that is simply what you feel passionate enough about to give it your energy. It may be that issue or cause you've always wanted to lead. That injustice that lights a fire in you. That hobby or degree you always wanted to master. It can be anything. This is the moment in your life when fulfilling your destiny is more important than clean laundry.

Nice idea, but how? How do you bring zest back after packing it away for so many years? One way is to envision the outcome you want. Isn't that what you did when you were young? As you go to sleep each night, play the movie of your actions as you want them to happen. See yourself accomplishing that goal that means so much to you. Every night the movie will have a few more scenes and you'll discover possibilities you never thought of before. Find your zest and share it with us.

"You will never have more time. You have, as you have always had, all the time there is."