I used to believe Math was difficult and that I was bad at it. In college, I procrastinated about taking my required statistics course: too hard for my feeble math mind. To prepare, I requested a tutor.

I took my first test in the class. I scored 100%.

The instructor asked ME to become a tutor.

Similarly, people can mistake discovering and living with passion to be like learning a challenging mathematical formula or taking organic chemistry or memorizing historical dates and personalities.

Instead, I invite you to step into a different space, and recognize that living your passion everyday is as simple as....well, its as simple as you decide it will be.

Follow these methods and you WILL live with passion. Guaranteed.

Oliver Wendall Holmes said "The human mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions."

Today, we will talk about taking a first step in stretching your mind.. In the following four issues of DiscoverYourPassion, we will discuss each of the methods as simply and deeply as possible.

The first path on our journey is to gain a higher and deeper understanding and application of living in trust.

As children, we begin to learn to trust. Actually, it might be more accurate to state that it would be terrific if during our childhood, we could fully learn to trust. Because until we trust completely, those areas in our lives where we lack trust will continue to cause us to live as children whenever they appear in our lives. Maturity will come when we step into trust. When we no longer have any desire for a "safety net".

A simple way to remember and continually hold close the concept and application of trust is through using this acrostic:

Towards
Real
Understanding of
Serenity:
Total.

TOWARDS is because trust is active and on going, you never "arrive" there, you simply rise to higher and higher levels. Along the path people will disappoint you. If you are honest, you will disappoint yourself. There will be moments when you believe chucking it all would be better than continuing down the Trust Path. After all, painting fingers and claiming victim status appears easier than shifting, and moving forward. Choose clarity instead. Take the next step. Trust is an active process, not a passive process. TOWARDS.

REAL is because Trust must be the truth to you. It can't be faked. Remember that as you move towards trust, you will bring yourself to a deeper understanding. There is no RIGHT place to be, there is only YOUR place to be in this particular moment. So, authentically or truly be where you are, and seek Trust purely. If you want to take it to an even higher level, substitute "radical" as in squared, cubed, etc. Exponentially real. REAL

UNDERSTANDING is because to fully trust, you will have all sorts of lessons and shifts-you may experience a-ha moments, lightbulb moments, and epiphanies which will come upon you. Much like how wine becomes richer and fuller through the process of becoming wine. As the grapes travel from the vine to the crushers and the fermenters. Next to the tank and to the barrels. Mid process, it moves to the bottle to the rack to your table to your glass. Finally it enriches your contented soul. UNDERSTANDING.

SERENITY. Look at Serenity as an all pervasive, enveloping peace. The peace that integrates with our cells and finds us in the purest highest place possible. And as we are climbing to this spot, much like "Towards" we are gaining in the practice of serenity as we reach each new level. Seeing where we have been, following our vision, we are calm, contented, joyful and ready for whatever and wherever life takes us. SERENITY.

Immediately following serenity is a colon. That punctuation is absolutely on purpose. (:). It is symbolic of a pause. Taking a moment to listen to the windchimes on your front porch as you step out of your door and walk to your car to drive to work. Taking a moment to inhale the smell of the freshly mowed lawn outside your office building. Taking a moment to look deeply into the eyes of those you love before you separate for the day. Take a moment.

Like a diver before she takes her leap. Like a gymnast before he mounts his apparatus. Like a pianist before she begins to play her concerto for her audience. Like the groom before he kisses his bride. Pause. Breathe. Rest.

Your pause might be a microsecond. It might be two weeks. Simply pause.

Finally, we come to TOTAL. Each day, we have a new equation for Total as our beacon. And each day we are can choose to go to that place of unlimited, unequivocal, whole, complete, full, supreme, entire, comprehensive. With every cell of our body we simply know. We are completely engulfed in the moment. There are no questions. We partner with our Higher Power, the Universe, God: whatever form Universal Love and Spirituality takes in your life. All embracing. Complete. It is Total.

Towards Real Understanding of Serenity: Total.

Clearing your slate of innaccurate past beliefs and knowing your partner (Universal Love, God, Spirit, Higher Power) will provide all that is necessary will naturally bring forth a new experience. A clearer sense of trust. An intentional, purposeful place of trust.

In a nutshell:

1. Take steps that support and nurture trust in your life each day. Continue to move towards trust.

2. Make trust real by acting in with trust instead of only speaking with trust. Become a model of trust and inspire others. Make it real.

3. Integrate your knowledge of trust into your life to the level of your heart and soul. Take the understanding from a facts place to a heart knowing place. As I like to say, know trust with every cell of your being.

4. Settle into trust peacefully every day. Like falling backwards into a soft, downy bed. Warm, inviting and the picture of tranquility. Be at peace with trust. Sing and hum peace. Embrace and live in serenity.

PAUSE and reflect, review, and receive all you are meant to receive through living in trust daily.

5. Trust, at whatever level you are, is a total experience. It is the sum of your past experiences, your present experiences and your future expectations. Completely and fully believe that living in purposeful trust is living in passion.