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To say that passionate living is desirable is something of a truism. Most people would love nothing more that to leap out of bed every morning, ready to face the day and full of inspiration. But most of us actually crawl out, muttering under our breath until we've had our first cup of coffee (or tea in my case), and then mooch off to work or school, with a minimal amount of energy. So how do we change that? What can we do to make our lives worth leaping out of bed for?

The answer is this: find your inspiration. Everyone has something that gives them those bouncy, excited glad-to-be-alive feelings. For me, it's nature. And art supplies. (Seriously, stationary shops are like heaven to me.) But each person has their own set of things. So your first step on the road to a leap-out-of-bed life is to find the stuff that makes you bounce.

Listen to music, and find the music that makes you feel productive and happy. And then listen to that most!

Read the sorts of books and magazines that make you feel good about yourself and the world. In the immortal words of that sacharine sunscreen song, "Do not read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly". While this may be a tad over the top for people who do like them, he has a point. We swallow down a lot of media every day that tells us that we need to be skinnier and prettier and richer than we are. So stop swallowing it! Read things that inspire you to be better, kinder and more creative. Not things which are going to make you feel inferior and useless.

Do the things you love to do. Whether it's playing with your children, or going for walks somewhere beautiful, or curling up in a big comfy armchair and reading a good novel, do more of it! Living passionately isn't about being on full throttle twenty four hours a day, it's about enjoying your life as much as possible. Unwinding and doing the things you enjoy are a really important part of that.

Eat well. What you eat affects the way you feel. Stop eating junk food, and eat more fruit. This may sound like it has nothing to do with being passionate, but it does. There is nothing better than stopping and having a proper healthy meal made out of good ingredients. And I am not talking about celery sticks and hummus for those of you who are diet fanatics (not that I have anything against celery sticks and hummus, but they don't make a meal all by themselves). I am talking about eating for the joy of food. You have to eat to live, so you may as well do it properly, and enjoyably. Once you've made a home-made pizza, with fresh vegetables on it, trust me, you'll never go back to fast food.

Enjoy the people around you. Your friends are there because you chose them for a reason. So enjoy their company. Stop and spend time. Have afternoon coffee that goes on for hours. The flip side of this is that you should surround yourself with people who hold you up, not people who put you down. Have a friend who always tells you how fat you look? Ditch her. Sound harsh? Maybe, but there is no space for that kind of negativity in your new passionate life. Make sure your friends are really your friends, and then spend as much time with them as you can.

This may all sound really obvious, but it is so easy to get swallowed into media, and people, and a general lifestyle that brings you down. By consciously moulding your life so that you put its best qualities first, you are bound to be leaping out of bed ready to face a new day soon. Good food, good company, and surrounding yourself with things and ideas that inspire you and make you bounce are sure fire ways to feel more passionately about your life.

Good Luck. Be happy.

Learn more about this author, Jax Goss.
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