Gratitude. Being positively passionate about something will make you a grateful person. I call this idea my Zactivist Passion Principle. Everyone has a passion principle and by the end of this blog you will have a chance to name your own. I think that it’s important to define your own ZPP because it’s become a liberator of my happiness. If I’m ever angry during the day, which I usually am doing medial tasks like housework or garden stuff, all I need is ten solid seconds to collect myself (sometimes easier said than done) and focus everything I’ve got on being grateful.  Boom! That exercise, being grateful, becomes a hurricane of good every time I do it, anywhere. The connection I feel in that moment makes good things happen, and the goodness rains down in sheets.

Each day I seek ways to increase my gratitude levels and every day my passion hurricane, my ZPP, is growing as a result. Positive change is accelerating around me, more people are inspired, I feel more deeply connected to the planet, I feel of use to the world, and my inner peace – the calm in the middle of the metaphor, also gets bigger. Sure, lot’s of crazy stuff happens on a daily basis that I would rather not deal with, but all of that is just proving my ZPP. The more I engage my passions for the genuine betterment of the planet, the more grateful I become. The more gratitude that I develop, the better my world becomes. The process and the feeling of connectedness from gratitude are the successes. Goals are important but they are never the part I really feel. If we as physical humans see our lives as growing up, having babies and then dieing; then these goals are pretty depressing, necessary but totally irrelevant. The goal directs us, we walk towards goals, accomplish goals, but they are not the points that you will likely remember after enjoying an incredible life. I haven’t died yet, thankfully, so I realize that I’m not totally up to speed, but who really is, these are just my observations to date.

The people that I surround myself with are amazing. My little girl, my wife, our parents, siblings and extended family are incredible people. Their support, without question, is a major factor in my privilege on the earth. When I am not spending time with my family I spend my time doing things I love – reading, getting kids inspired, going to University, working with people, working on my computer, taking photos, shooting videos, editing videos, drinking good wine, playing my djembe, talking to friends, and exploring the ten ideas a day that I’m inspired  to take action on. I do this every day, and I love it. Pretty simple right? “Must be nice,” I get that a lot. “I want to do something like that someday,” “like what?,” I’ll respond. I am able to do things in my life that I love because I am surrounded in the privilege of good people and good things happening in the math of the universe. Believe me, there are lots of good people to go around. Outside of my family I meet dozens each day, sometimes hundreds, and sometimes thousands. Even the bad people are good in moments and that is when you need to see them, that is how you need to feel them, if it’s possible. The few close friends that I have outside of my family are rocks of healing energy, or they focus me in a way that transcends my own natural ability. Hopefully, I do the same for them. Connecting at a level that is healing and enabling makes any problem small and crush-able. Connection to people is based in compassion – seeing yourself in everyone and everything is a reality that is powerful, humbling and leaves you breathless with gratitude. This builds up as you practice it more.

There has been tons of literature written about all this stuff that I’m talking about – people have been trying to crack the meaning of life for millennia and what I’m presenting here isn’t new, it’s just a take on reality. The Zactivist Passion Principle is this – I want to make the world a better place and so does everyone else, I’m with you, let’s do this. That’s it and here’s how it works for me. I get passionate and the people around me do the same. They do it by amplifying my energy (actually theirs to begin with), supporting me (by connecting), and sharing success with me after they take some “Juice” and crush a project they started or connect with a passion they never thought existed.

I find incredible amounts of energy in people. I really love speaking to kids about world issues, for example, and watching the gears in their realities click like thunder bolts. That is my idea of total bliss. I feed off of peoples connections with me and reciprocate it by exuding energy to the world one billion fold, I’m not conscious of that – it just happens – Z-bombs. The “Juice” is what people get overwhelmed by sometimes when I’m in my element but then, when they get on my wavelength, they turn around and blast everyone around them with “More Juice”. It’s awesome! Gratitude is helping me direct that energy in different ways now, like sharper focus, but I still get super pumped at some point every day, to the degree of racing thoughts, unrestrained inspiration and the belief that I could ride on the back of a Tyrannosaurus Rex if they still existed. I’m getting pumped right now! I’m the luckiest man alive, why wouldn’t I be?

Being a (insert the first letter(s) of your name here)_activist ie. Zactivist – is  directing positive change in an amazing world to make it more amazing. This is a great outlook to have if you can maintain it, it takes effort and self regulating but I’m getting the hang of it so I’m sure you will too. Everything you do for the betterment of the world is a bonus. Every second that you think “how can I be of service,” is a bonus – and the world is already a better place for your thoughts. Whatever you title your brand of action – doesn’t really matter – but I brand everything because that’s what I love to do, and I love doing what I love to do because I can, and I’m grateful for that. Underneath it all though I’m just Zac and I’m full of gratitude for everyone who has ever connected with me on any level, you are me, I am you, Kumbaya – let’s do this.

Thanks for connecting today, please leave a comment if you wish and I look forward to sharing a cup of “Juice” and “More Juice” with you sometime soon in a passion hurricane.