Passionate Women Who Thrive

I recently decided to spend the first 30 minutes of each work day doing some online networking.  One day I might spend time in LinkedIn, the next day searching out new possible friends on Facebook or Tweeting, but the bottom line is I want to continually look for new people I can connect with - not just because we both like artichokes, but perhaps because we are both in the same LinkedIn Groups, or share common networking goals.

One of my goals is to share my passionate attitude about just about everything in life with everyone I come in contact with - the reason I started this blog in the first place.  

This week I was fortunate enough to come across a woman on Twitter who was following me, and upon checking out her info found that we share a common goal.  @karolynhart is the new connection I speak of and her passion is to connect women on beauty, health, life, careers, parenting, relationships and everything in between.

I was immediately drawn to her site, just by the address LiveWithThrive.com - what a fabulous URL! 

The definition of Thrive is "to grow strongly and vigorously" - something I aspire to do both through my relationship with God, and through my career.  One of the ways I hope to do this in my career is by connecting with other passionate and powerful professional women. (Nice alliteration!)

This quote is posted on LiveWithThrive.com as the 'favorite quote' and I can see why:

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed it's the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead 

It reminds me that everyone has something to say, and something to contribute.  Pay attention to your connections, and pursue your passions.  I am very excited about participating in this online community and building new relationships with other professional women who Thrive!

Do you Live With Thrive?

Passion Under Construction

Passion Feeds Passion - I cannot say that enough. Things that may seems bothersome to you or I? I guarantee there is someone out there who feels passionate about that very thing. If not? Would anything ever get accomplished.

Take Road Construction for Example. Here in Upstate New York, there are two seasons: Winter & Construction Seasons. (A long standing joke in upstate NY) Well as the years go by, the Construction Season seems to spill over into Winter. Most of us (and I used to be one of these), would either avoid road construction projects altogether, or complain and sigh driving through at 40 MPH or less.

Think about this - Somebody, Somewhere had a passion for change. An enthusiastic mind said, lets improve the experience people have on this particular stretch of road. Somebody, somewhere had a "vision" a passion to make this change occur. 

There is at least one person out there who finds it exciting to build a project plan for this type of project and get bids for materials and figure out how many construction barrels and signs are needed, and how long it will take and what the phases will be. What is the critical path? Who are the stakeholders? What are the major milestones? How will I handle a schedule shift (or bump in the road)? There is someone with passion for this very thing. My best friend helped me see this perspective and it has changed the way I view construction projects.

Over the summer - traveling to my mother's house for a visit, we drove through a construction project to "see the progress". He said to me, most people avoid these projects - I intentionally drive through them to see how they are doing it and to see the progress. Interesting! Someone actually WANTS to see this project and see it succeed, and is excited about its progress.


Several months later, the same project is still going on. Yesterday as I'm driving through I think to myself how cool this stretch of road will be, and I snap a photo on my phone to send my best friend to show him the progress.

Six months ago I would have avoided that stretch of road altogether, or would have complained about the extended time it took to make my trip. Thanks to my friend's passion for construction that he derives from his career, it has affected the way I view road construction and changed a big negative for me, into a very big positive.

Remember - for everything we come in contact with, someone has to have a passion for it in order to make it so. Maybe the thought of someone else taking pleasure in what may seem like less than perfect situation - for the greater good, can help you to appreciate it just a little bit more.