What is your passion?
I was asked this question yesterday. I almost didn’t hesitate in my response, as I answered what I love to do.
However, as I thought about it more in the quiet moments of my work hours, I realized I had not answered correctly.
What am I passionate about?
My life has been filled with many wonderful things. It has also been filled with many moments of pain. In both of those times, I have found that my passions became small and at times, I could not even articulate what I enjoyed, let alone had any type of passion. That sounds really bad. It does, because it was really bad. I will spare you the details.
So, what did I discover was my passion?
I have many things that I enjoy. I love literature. I love reading. I enjoy writing. I thrive on visiting bookstores, discussing books and living through the experiences of others to educate and learn.
So while I said that my passion is reading and writing, I realized that in truth it more about the passion of learning and helping others not only desire to learn, but to enjoy experiencing the process. This extends far beyond just fiction, which is a big love of mine. It extends to childbirth, to education, and the reason I write on Quora.
It is why I love volunteering my time when I don’t have extra time to give. It is why I seek to offer service in many ways on a weekly basis for education and building the community.
It is why I am there for my kids even when it is hard to get everything done.
I believe that if I want to complain about the abuses in life, I need to do something about it, to change it on the most basic levels. It means starting with the small people that get overlooked in every aspect of my life.
It also means I get a bit worn out at times. Sometimes you feel like a superhero, but most of the time, you feel like the gum stuck on someone’s shoe. You might have been good at one time, but now you are nothing more than something to be scraped into the garbage.
So, how can you combine your passion with your work? How can you prevent yourself from being swallowed up by your passion until you are too tired to follow it anymore?
For me, I am finding that step by step, setting some good guidelines for yourself to follow is so important. If there are not guidelines in life, we fail.
-Make a plan
-Don’t try to be the savior for everyone, let others help out as well
-Watch out for the “White knight syndrome”.
-Realize that it is okay to fail sometimes
-Follow your passions, but make sure you don’t let them drive you. Always realize it is okay to make a U-Turn.