By the time she was turning 50, my mother had done it all…she had worked as a waitress at Pizza Hut, she worked as an assistant to a dermatologist, she partnered with my father in his advertising agency, she was a director at a health club, she was a restaurant manager. Whatever she had to do to get 7 plates of food on the table every night, she did it.
But as she was preparing to hit this milestone, she realized she hadn’t yet discovered her true passion in life. Or maybe she had and she just didn’t realize it.
My father challenged her on her 50th birthday to figure out what she wanted to be when she grew up…by the end of the day. On the eve of her 50th birthday, we all sat around the livingroom as a family and listened as she shared her idea. She wanted to create a magazine. She wanted to use her passion for health & fitness and her love for writing. It was perfect! But what would her magazine be called, and what exactly would it contain? This is where she called on the family for help. We all sat around and shouted out names. As we jotted down words, we needed to find one word, or a two-word phrase that summed it all up.
Thus, Moxie was born! At the time, “moxie” wasn’t heard or used all that much. People used it every now and then, but it didn’t really have a clear definition. My mother took on the task of defining the word herself.
When you look up synonyms for “moxie” you’ll find the following words…
Bravery, courage, toughness, boldness, adventurous
As mom had narrowed down her focus to the health and wellness of women over 50, this was perfect! She wanted to inspire these women to stop seeing age as a limitation, but rather as a celebration. Life doesn’t stop when you’re 50. For some, that’s when your life is just beginning!
I work in a retirement community and I have learned so much about life. I used to feel sorry for the elderly because I viewed them as weak, dependent, and for the most part, immobile. I viewed growing old as the ending of life. Boy was I wrong!
Recently, one of our residents was signing out to go celebrate her son’s birthday. I had assumed from day one that she was one of our younger residents. Our starting age is 62 and to be quite honest, I didn’t even think she could possibly be THAT old! As she was signing out she told me she was celebrating her son turning 64. I’m pretty sure my eyeballs popped right out of my head & got huge at that moment, like they do in all the cartoons. Her son was older than I thought SHE was! Turns out, this woman who I didn’t even think could possibly be in her 60s…was 84 years old!
We have another resident who has been to the hospital twice in the past month. When she came back home the second time, she wheeled in, looked at my coworker and I and shouted, “Hot dang! I’m back!” She’s 94 years old!
I am truly inspired by these residents every day. But at the same time, I can’t help but feel like this isn’t it for me. This isn’t my “calling”. While I love my job, I don’t feel like it’s my “passion”. It’s been so hard for me to admit that I’m 30 years old and still don’t know what I want to do when I grow up. I went to school for 8 years to become a teacher, only to discover that I didn’t have the passion for it.
But as I sat down with a soothing CD and a yummy cup of hot cocoa tonight, ready to tackle the job of proofreading the next fabulous issue of Moxie magazine, God spoke to me! I opened to my mother’s words…
“My daughter discovered her passion in the eighth grade…”
No, not me. Her other daughter.
My sister dances and spins a flag or a rifle with more passion than ANYONE I have ever seen! Every time I watch her I end up in tears. She has so much emotion, so much passion. It emanates from inside her and she draws you in until you can’t take your eyes off of her! It is so inspiring, yet, she doesn’t say a word or give you anything. She’s simply doing what she loves and loving what she does.
In this same letter from the editor, my mother proclaims, “It took me fifty years to discover my passion and now you’re holding it in your hand.”
For fifty years, my mother didn’t know what she wanted to be when she grew up, and in a year she not only discovered it…but used it!
The thing is, my mother did not come up with the idea for Moxie because she spent an entire day brainstorming. She came up with Moxie because that’s what she is!
Your passion isn’t just something you love to do. It’s who you are. My father is a graphic designer, my brothers are musicians, my littlest brother is a technological GENIUS, and me…?
Well, I’m about to be 31 and I have yet to figure that out. But I know that someday I will figure it out. And thanks to my father issuing my mother an ultimatum on that day, and thanks to my mother not only discovering, but USING her passion, here I am…four years, two months, and four days later…finally believing that!
Passion breeds inspiration. If you want to be an inspiration to others and make a difference to others, be passionate in everything you do. What you do may not visibly affect someone right away. But everything you do every day has the potential to change someone’s life…someday. Don’t waste your whole life trying to figure out your passion. Spend it trying to discover yourself. Your passion won’t be found in a list, or a quote, or a song, or in a self-help book. It’s in you. What makes you happy? What brings you joy? What makes you smile? When you can answer those questions, your passion will become crystal clear.
Be who God created you to be. Be brave. Be courageous. Be tough. Be bold. Be adventurous.
…Be MOXIE!
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