Put Your Passions on the Front Burner

Creating space for your favorite activities--be they eating out, traveling, reading--is so important to living a full life.

My foodie friend won’t eat at the same place twice.  “There’re so many restaurants out there,” he reasons.  “And I want to experience as many as possible.”  

He researches and carefully selects new restaurants, then relishes the entire dining experience: the atmosphere, menu, starter, main course, desert and coffee.  

I love hearing his insight during a meal: “The decor is decadent and almost kitschy”, “This minimalist atmosphere is more my speed”, and “My only complaint is that the menu offers Indian and Italian food.”  

Pursue What You Love

I'm inspired by his tenacity to pursue a passion with wild abandon.  And though I can’t say I share his love for cuisine exactly (I tend to seek out one or two places I like then patronize them over and over and over--so maybe I’m a little OCD), I do have a love for audio. 

Be it podcasts or audiobooks, there’s way more content I want to consume than there are hours in a day.  

In a past life, I worked at home and could listen to hours and hours of podcasts and audiobooks from my computer. 

However, after moving to Hong Kong and spending hours each day commuting, I became aware of how hard it was to listen on the go. 

Untangling these several time a day was making me cra-cra.  

I was constantly untangling the wires of my earbuds--they’d knot up after only twenty minutes inside my purse. 

Being attached to my purse by a cord made navigating city crowds awkward, too.  And I’d take the earbuds out and put them in again constantly—anytime I needed to talk to someone or make a purchase.   

And with all noise of Hong Kong, I’d have to either to crank up the volume or continually start and pause the program I was listening to.  

In short, wired earbuds were an enormous PITA. 

Love My Bose Noise-Cancelling Headphones

For several weeks, I’ve had my eye on Bose’s noise-cancelling headphones.  My old roommate had a pair and loved them.  Although they’re pricy (over $400!), when the white-and-rose-gold limited edition pair came out, I went for it.
  

I'm loving the Bose Noise-Cancelling 700 headphones.  Totally worth it.  

Now that I’m using the headphones, I see how the purchase made so much sense.  They've given me the capacity to do in spades something I really love.  

I listen to audiobooks, podcasts and articles CONSTANTLY now.  Last weekend I finished an entire audiobook and got two hours into a second while walking about doing errands.  (And since the Black Friday sale at Audible, I have more audiobooks to get going on!) 

I love wearing them around the house as well.  If I walk into another room I don’t have to pause the program but can listen continually.  

And the noise cancelling feature is amazing.  I can hear above the din of city noises, including super-loud buses and underground trains, without having to crank the volume up to 11!  

Making Your Passions Simple to Pursue

It’s hard, sometimes, to do the things we love.  (Or even to identify what those things are!)  

Hiking, going to the movies, eating out and traveling are all complicated and sometimes expensive multi-step processes.   

However, it’s so worth it to make the effort and sacrifices for these things to happen.  Life is about living, after all, right?

I think a system or a device, such as my headphones, is the key to making fun things happen.  For example, making an "appointment" to eat out every Friday night makes the practice routine.      

What are your favorite things to do?  Are there any road blocks that prevent you from doing them?