Question: I will preface my question by stating I am very new to writing and new to this website. I am here for help.

I'm writing a collection of inspirational short stories, as though I was sitting across from someone over coffee sharing my experiences. Because my normal manner of speaking is in passive voice, I am struggling desperately to convert over to active voice, which is basically stifling the flow of my thoughts and words, making them almost stiff and impersonal. 

I have been studying the grammar rules and know exactly what needs to be done, but I am stuck - what is the best advice you can offer for someone in my situation? I am not ashamed or embarrassed to ask this but would appreciate your input. Thank you.

Answer: 
Don't worry about it in your first draft. It's hard enough to finish a first draft, don't make it harder by trying to write perfectly. Just get your story out and fix it later.

Especially since you're working on short pieces, you can devote your revisions to individual issues. Read through once just to look for passive voice. Read through again just to look for weak verbs. Read through again, listening to awkward phrasing. Rinse and repeat.
I struggle with this too, so while I can't completely act like I know what I'm doing, I would like to recommend this app:

<http://www.hemingwayapp.com/>

It's a neat little app that will at the very least flag up all the little ways you're using passive voice so you know where you're tripping up. It's useful for minimalist prose in general, but don't take its word as gospel; after all, if everyone was hyper-minimalist, there'd be no stylistic variation.

Note: I'm not sponsored by Hemingwayapp.