What is Passion?
by Tammy Harrison

I give all types of advice to people who write to me and want to know how to start a home-based business and what to do. My standard response is to find your passion. 

I just realized that it may be easier said than done! After looking in an online dictionary, I find that passion has numerous meanings. The two that are most descriptive are desire and suffering. Boy, is THAT the truth! 

To find your passions, you have to know yourself. Do you like planning? Are you meticulous? Do you like talking or writing? A passion can be anything, and it is best described as something that brings you pleasure and something you do not mind doing despite all of the obstacles that stand in your way. For instance, your kids could be your passion. You love waking them up in the mornings and you love every aspect of being with them, playing with them, helping nurture them, etc. 

In order to find successful home-based work, you must find your passions. One of my passions is quilting. I am not an expert by any means, but I love the creative process that goes into making quilts. I spend hours designing a quilt in my head. I love thinking about the weight of the finished material, the size of the intricate pieces, the pattern to sewing it and everything in-between. After it is planned I take to my computer and design it on paper, fitting each piece of material together and finding color combinations that may shock the average person, but bring out the intended feel of my creation. I proceed with the quilt, through the piecing, the sewing and the stitching. Every single aspect of making a quilt is passionate for me because each minute detail is a labor of love. 

That is the type of passion that is necessary to find success as a home-based working mom. Will you want to work when the kids are home in the summer and you want to spend all of your time with them? If you have passion about your business, you will go the extra mile to enjoy your children as well as squeeze in an hour of work at their convenience. This goes with the suffering part of defining passion - you do all that you can to make it work, even enduring pain if possible. 

I've said it before and I will continue to say that working from home is not easy. You can not walk out and close the door on the house in the mornings and return in the evenings, with everything as you left it. You live and work in the same environment and you must love all of what you do because of where you do it. That is why it is so important to find your passion: you put your passions into your family and must do the same in the family home. If your passions rule your world, you will find success. 

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