Ageless Passions by Karen Putz

Category: Uncategorized

We Need More Passion in this World

I’m about to wrap up another book about PASSION.

“Passion is over-used,” a friend of mine told me.

Are you kidding me?

When I look around, I see people just going through the motions throughout their day. The routine of stress and mediocrity is etched on the faces of people shopping at the local food store. There’s the usual pattern: the dread of Monday, the perk of aliveness on Wednesday, the celebration of Friday.

And then there’s the weekend: when they truly live it up or kick back and relax.

What if we turned that whole thing into a different paradigm?

What if you woke up each day in gratefulness–beginning with the quiet celebration of breath and the reflection of all that is good.

What if you looked forward to the unfolding of each day and time passed by so fast because you were deep into what you love to do.

What if you were surrounded by people who cheer you on and love you just as you are–yet still push you to be the best you can be.

What if you were vibrating at an energy level so high that others wonder how in the world you can do all that you do.

Yes, that’s what passion will do for you.

When you are lined up with your passion, your purpose, and your quest for serving others–that’s when life becomes bliss. You’re part of something that’s bigger than you, something that stretches you beyond anything you’ve ever imagined, and something that will leave a legacy long after your feet have left this earth.

We need more passion in this world. We need you to wake up with eager anticipation. We need you to share your unique gifts, talents, skills, and abilities with others.

You were not meant to live a ho-hum life. You were meant to to serve, to love, to enjoy, to feel, to imagine, to cry, to celebrate…

You were not meant to walk through this life numb to each day and living for a day in the future.

You were meant to passionately live NOW.

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November 9, 2016
What Are You Willing to Do to Create the Life You Want?

“I want to write a book.”

“I want to start my own business.”

“I want to be an actor.”

“I want to move to California.”

“I want to retire.”

“I want to…”

What’s on your “Someday List?”

You know the one…the one that has all the things you’re putting off for some day in the future.

I’m a wonderful procrastinator. My father used to say, “Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow.” (Yes, really.) He would say it jokingly, but I took his words to heart.

I had always wanted to write books from the time that I wrote my first story as a kid. I started writing articles and blog posts for no pay. I wrote for the pure pleasure of creating stories and honing the craft.

My first paid gig was for an online review site. I earned five figures from that site…over a couple of years.

I continued to write for several blog sites and occasionally my articles were syndicated in several newspapers. Chicago Tribune offered me a weekly column in the local section, with no pay. I said yes. It was fun to see my articles in print. Later, I became a paid writer. This lead to other paid gigs, like writing for Ricky Martin’s parenting website.

So this leads to the question, what do you love so much you’d do it for free? This is one of the clues to your passions.

Then the second question becomes, what are you willing to do to create the life you want?

I wanted to write books.

Someday.

There’s a line in Billy Joel’s song, James:

“When will you write your masterpiece?”

I finally started writing. I got up at five a.m. and hit the keyboard each morning. I wrote after the kids went to bed. I wrote in between selling stuff for my sales job.

One book. Then two. Then ten. And still writing the next one.

There are three things you need to create the life you want:

Clarity.

Commitment.

Action.

Get clear on the life you want, commit to what needs to be done, then take action.

What are you willing to do to create the life you want?

October 25, 2016
50 States for My 50’s: New Hampshire

Deep in the middle of The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life by Chris Guillebeau, I paused to contemplate my own quest.

What did I love to do more than anything in the world?

Barefoot water skiing.

And just like that, the quest appeared before me:

I will barefoot water ski in all 50 states to celebrate my 50’s–and to encourage, inspire, and prompt others to unwrap their passions at any age.

Maine and New Hampshire were on the calendar for the #Barefoot50 in August. I had planned to barefoot with Sun Sports Maine, but due to scheduling conflicts and high wind, I ended up at paddleboarding with my co-worker instead. Stephanie Olson and I had a blast. We were the only ones out on the water due to the wind.

My first time on a paddleboard!

After a speaking gig in Maine, I took off for New Hampshire to hang with Jackie and Claude St. Onge, the parents of 2X World Barefoot Champion, Keith St. Onge (we wrote Gliding Soles.)

New Hampshire was absolutely beautiful and it was my first time in this state. In some ways I felt like I had visited it before–then I realized it was simply from all the stories that Keith shared when we were writing his book.

Claude arranged for me to barefoot with the Leclerc family at their lake. It was a little windy and rough, but we all had a great time on the water. Claude is in his 60’s and he barefoots a like a teenager, proving you’re never too old to do what you love.

Claude St. Onge enjoying the water!

The Leclerc family, St. Onges, and me. I left the group too soon!

A Gliding Soles fan!

Barefooting backwards–my favorite thing to do.

The three of us took off for Lake Umbagog in the late afternoon, meeting up with Jackie’s sister and her husband. for a ride around the lake while the sun was getting low in the sky. Lake Umbagog is a man-made lake which flows into the Androscoggin River. The name comes from the Abenaki Indian tribe meaning “shallow waters.” Indeed, the average depth of this 10.5 mile long lake is only ten feet.

Breathtaking sunset on Lake Umbagog.

Umbagog is absolutely pristine and many parts are completely untouched by civilization.

The sunset was beautiful that night. When we arrived back to the cottage, we had a wonderful dinner with Jackie’s sister Collette and her husband, Stanley.

I checked out the map of Lake Umbagog and learned that half of the lake is in Maine. I’ll be back to barefoot on that side of the lake for my Maine adventure!

Jackie and Claude St. Onge

We packed a lot into three short days and I could have easily stayed there for a couple of weeks. The area around Mount Washington is simply beautiful. It’s a soulful place. This quest has been so much fun–check out the gallery below for the rest of the adventure.

Grab a copy of Chris Guillebeau’s book and begin a quest of your own. I promise you, your life will light up!

September 15, 2016
Passion Quotes to Inspire You

Way back in high school, a wonderful teacher took me out for lunch and gave me a blank writing journal as a gift. This special teacher saw my gift long before I recognized it in myself.

Today, that journal is filled with poems and inspiring quotes. Whenever I need a boost, I open the journal to random pages and I find inspiration once again..

Like Oprah Winfrey says, “Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”

Here are some quotes to stir the passion within you and lift your energy.

People should love their work, rather than work themselves to death. Every one of you has a gift–use it to empower others.

~Christine Amanda Rosehart

To love what you do and feel that it matters–how could anything be more fun?

~Katherine Graham

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.

~Carl Jung

It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.

~Charles Spurgeon

My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive, and to do so with some passion, compassion, some humor, and some style.

~Maya Angelou

There is no passion to be found in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.

~Nelson Mandela

I would rather die of passion than boredom.

~Vincent Van Gogh

The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.

~Ferdinand Foch

The need for devotion to something outside ourselves is even more profound than the need for companionship. If we are not to go to pieces or wither away, we must have some purpose in life; for no man can live for himself alone.

~Ross Parmenter

Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate.

~Jon Bon Jovi

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

~Howard Thurman

I can’t imagine a person becoming a success who doesn’t give this game of life everything he’s got.

~Walter Cronkite

You can have anything you want if you want it desperately enough. You must want it with an exuberance that erupts through the skin and joins the energy that created the world.

~Sheila Graham

If you don’t love something, then don’t do it.

~Ray Bradbury

September 7, 2016
50 States for My 50’s: Missouri

Deep in the middle of The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life by Chris Guillebeau, I paused to contemplate my own quest.

What did I love to do more than anything in the world?

Barefoot water skiing.

And just like that, the quest appeared before me:

I will barefoot water ski in all 50 states to celebrate my 50’s–and to encourage, inspire, and prompt others to unwrap their passions at any age.

Back in 2010, I rediscovered my passion for barefoot water skiing after seeing a 66-year-old woman, Judy Myers, barefooting on the TODAY Show. At the age of 44, I put my feet back on the water and the passion just keeps multiplying! I now look forward to Growing Bolder instead of older.

At the beginning of this quest, I’ve already barefoot water skied in eight states. In July, I added Missouri to the list while on a trip to visit my brother, Brian. We joined up with Brian Tillema, an attorney from Kansas City and headed out to Lake Lotawana, home of the famed Don Thomson, a true pioneer superstar of barefoot water skiing.

In the same month, I headed down to Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, my family’s hometown. Both of my parents were born there. I never in a million years would have ever thought that I would be able to barefoot water ski in this tiny, rural town. My cousin, Jerry, introduced me to Seth Burgett, an entrepreneur who has patented over 40 items, including YurBuds, semi-customized sports ear buds.

Six-time World Barefoot Champion David Small held a two day ski clinic on a beautiful, private lake. The barefooting conditions were fantastic and everyone in the boat had a blast.

Next up: Maine and New Hampshire!

August 23, 2016
Shine in Your Own Way

There’s only one you.
At times, you may be filled with self-doubt. Fear might step in to block you on your path to success. You may think you’re not good enough, smart enough, strong enough or whatever “enough” is to do what you really, really want to do.

Do it anyway.

Yes, you may stumble, you may fall, you may “fail”… but the journey becomes the lesson and the lesson becomes the gift.

And the gift to the world is you. There’s only one you.

Shine in your own way.

August 4, 2016
All We Have is Right Now

I remember the day John Denver’s plane crashed.

I was sitting in the family room nursing my newborn son, occasionally glancing at the news on TV. Suddenly John Denver’s smiling face appeared. It took a moment for the captioned words to register.

“…Plane crash…Monterey Bay…dead…”

I sat there in complete shock.

No, no, nooooo.

My parents introduced me to John Denver’s music in 1971 when the Poems, Prayers, and Promises album was released. I instantly loved his music. Every song told a story and I love stories.

In elementary school, I began losing my hearing but I still loved music. As long as I had the lyrics to read I could follow the words.

Shortly after I became pregnant with my first son I attended a concert in Indiana with my mom, my sister, and my friend Sue. When we arrived, I asked the concert manager to give John a letter. I told him how much his music meant to me. This was the first concert of his that I would experience his music with sign language interpreters (I became deaf from a barefoot water ski fall as a teen.) I asked if we could meet him after the concert.

We had front row seats and the music was amazing–a much smaller theater than the stadium concerts when I was a kid. John Denver acknowledged the interpreters and he sang to us.

At the very end, John mentioned that he received letters and he very much wanted to meet his fans but he had to get on the road to the next gig.

Seeing the remnants of his plane floating in the water made me realize that there would never be another chance to hear him play on stage ever again.

A line from one of his songs came to mind:

“The moment and hand is the only thing we really own.”

July 25, 2016
Creating a Life List

For many years, I crafted New Year’s resolutions that were forgotten by mid-February. I started off each year with good intentions, but I soon settled into the same old routine–and then meandered through life until the next eve of celebration jostled me into making new resolutions yet again.

A few years ago I attended Debra Poneman’s Yes to Success workshop. During one of the activities, Debra handed out a large poster board with a space to write 100 things to be, do, or have in your lifetime. We didn’t have enough time to list 100 items, but I dubbed this my “Life List” and continued to add to it.

Jack Canfield, founder of Chicken Soup for the Soul books, has a similar list that he crafts his life around: 101 Lifetime Goals.

One of the things on my list was to be published in a Chicken Soup for the Soul book.

Now, there’s something very powerful that happens when you write down an item in your Life List: you set an intention in motion.

Yet, without daily nurturing and action, the best intentions can remained buried if you allow other distractions to take over.

A few months after the Yes to Success workshop, I realized I was not taking any action toward actually getting published in the Chicken Soup for the Soul book. So right then and there, I went to the website, scanned the list of potential topics, and wrote an essay. A few weeks later, I had a chapter published in the Chicken Soup for the Soul Find Your Happiness book.

Intention, without action, remains a wish.

My husband and I crafted a list together and one of the items we wrote down was to take a trip to Austria. We weren’t sure how it was possible, as money was tight for us at the time. Yet today, I’m writing this from a hotel in Salzburg. One of my mentors, Janet Attwood, author of The Passion Test, taught me to focus on the “what” of what you want, for the “how” will take care of itself. The key is to remain open to possibilities and opportunities that show up in your life.

If you do not have a Life List, today is a great day to start one. Grab a spiral notebook, a blank journal, or several pieces of paper and sit down in a soothing place. Turn off all distractions and make sure you cannot be disturbed.

Write from the heart. One hundred things to experience.

Begin now.

Keep the list where you can access it every day.

And every single day, do something with the list in mind. Even if it’s just ten minutes of researching, making a phone call, or doing something new–every time you act, you are either getting closer to what you want or further away. Choose wisely.

June 14, 2016
A Living Memorial Instead of a Funeral

My mom didn’t want a funeral. She didn’t even want a memorial service.

Mom was battling congestive heart failure. You can live a long time with this condition and no one really knows how fast or slow it can progress. And my mom was tough. Resilient. Persistent. She battled through every symptom with aggravation at first, then grit.

She was in and out of the hospital so many times the last two years that it became her routine. Last summer, we thought we were coming close to losing her. She couldn’t walk and was very weak.

But Mom wasn’t ready to let go of this life–she still had some living to do. Heck, she had just moved into a new house in Nashville and she was going to enjoy it. So she got herself out of the hospital bed and began walking with a walker again. She was doing so well at one point that she could get around the house on her own.

Then the final downward spiral began quickly. This time, we sensed it was real. A sprint towards the end. My brother and I got in the car and drove to Missouri to pick up my sister. One brother flew in. Another drove in. For the first time, all six of us were together, including a brother who was adopted at birth.

Three months, the staff at the hospital said. In my heart, I knew they were wrong. My mom wasn’t even moving. The fluid had taken over her body. We brought her home and arranged for nursing care three times a week.

When the hospice nurse arrived, we asked her that blunt question: How much time is left?

There’s a fine line that hospice nurses must walk–the line between hope and reality. Very gently, she let us know that time was dwindling and we must enjoy what we could.

So we gave Mom a living memorial. It wasn’t planned. The process simply unfolded each day. We flooded the house with food, people, and memories. We watched old family videos. We cooked her favorite foods. We sang songs. We celebrated her life.

And we cried.

Through it all, something magical was happening. Mom was happy. It was a beautiful thing to see her smiling each day, surrounded by love.

Then at two in the morning, she told my daughter, “I’m going to die.”

Two hours later, she fell into a coma and the next day, she took her last breath surrounded by her family.

Some of us struggled with Mom’s wishes to leave earth without a final service in her honor, but instead, she left us the amazing gift of all of us together during her the last days of her life.

Marian Griffard Memorial Page

May 9, 2016
Why I Share My Meditation Moments



A few years ago I began sharing pictures I took during my “Meditation Moments”throughout the day. I shared them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I put a collection of them together in a book: Living with Passion.

“It’s not meditation if you’re stopping to get your camera out,” my daughter teased me. (At least I think she was being light-hearted about it…)

The pictures served a purpose. Not only was I getting my personal meditative time in throughout the day, but I was also noticing beauty everywhere.


Nature restores. The fresh air, the color, the varying textures–all of those things come together to change the energy within us.

A wonderful thing began to happen: other people began sharing their “Meditation Moments.”


Meditation is about being in the now and transcending it. It’s about gratitude. It’s recognizing the beauty of the moment and knowing that’s all you own in that very moment.

“But I’m too busy! I don’t have time for this stuff!”

I get it.

But you know what that means?

You probably need it more than anyone else.

There’s an old Zen saying, “You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes everyday – unless you’re too busy; then you should sit for an hour.”



April 19, 2016