Passion: Does Everyone Have It?

In an article, "Finding Your Passion", by JC, the author talks about a subject most of us can relate to. Everyone has a passion though many go through life not knowing what it is. JC's article is very encouraging in showing you ways you might be able to find your passion if you haven't already.

She mentions some things about school and how it can effect one's finding their passion. I agree to a point but I also think school is a great start. It's where you can grow amongst all of the knowledge you learn. Observing other classmates can actually make you aware of things you like or don't like either in someone, or what they may be doing such as working at Burger King, studying business, or teaching. But then again school life can put a damper on your dreams or goals when peer pressure becomes too much, or there is just too much pressure to get your grades up, or you're involved in too many academics and sports to even think about what you want to be doing.

Some high school graduates go to college knowing what they want to do with their lives, while others suffer silently and struggle through college uncertain if the major they are in is something they really want to focus on for the rest of their lives.

Once a person graduates from high school, society drills it into them that they are supposed to know what they want to do with their life. It's just not the case. Even grown men and women in the work field have a job just to pay the bills, not because it is something they want to do.

My husband works in the Information Support department of Orvis in southern Vermont and he often talks about owning his own archery shop, teaching me archery, or becoming a ranger. He knows he wants to do something else with his life, but he doesn't know what exactly. He loves the outdoors and enjoys going fishing, hiking, going for a run or walking, and gardening among other things. He reads books on wildlife and can't seem to get enough of them at times.

Then there will times he will talk about getting back into computer programming, which he also loves to do and has done some of in the past. Only now that he's married, he's worried that it will take time away from family.

He constantly struggles with finding something he loves to do and incorporate that with a source of income. Like many of us, he wants a job that involves his passion, or passions, and be able to make a living off it.

I can understand my husband's struggle as I have seen people in my own family work just to pay bills and either don't ever seem to mention something they'd rather be doing, or they have a passion, like my sister who is an artist, but work because they need the money and don't have the time to feed their dreams.

I personally didn't have this struggle, but rather my passion…dream…desire…whatever you want to call it…it found me. Many may think this can't happen, but it can. I never started out wanting to be a writer and didn't even know I could make a living writing until about third grade when my teacher had the class write a story based on a man living in outer space. The class did as she asked and handed in our stories one by one. As others continued to work, I handed in my story and then went to work on a spelling assignment due the next day. A few minutes later, my teacher, Philips, called me back to her desk.

I was nervous, hands sweaty, as my tiny legs carried me back to her desk. Was I in trouble? Is my story really bad? Would I have to re-write the whole thing? Little did I know the last two questions I would be asking myself quite frequently in the future.

When I reached her desk, Philips asked me if she could talk to me about my story. I told her she could and what she said surprised me. She told me my story was really good, perhaps the best in the class. This was the total opposite of what I was expecting. She then asked me, "Do you mind if I talk to your mother about it?" Realizing, this was a good conversation and that my mother would be proud of me, I told the teacher she could tell my mom.

I remember my mom and my teacher talking and I will never forget the smile on my Mom's face. She was both happy and proud, which made me feel pretty good about myself. Still, I didn't decide to keep writing then. It was the years following in fourth grade, eighth and ninth grades, that I learned I had a real talent or writing. I wrote poetry, short stories, and opinion pieces for English classes and they received high grades as well as teachers' compliments that again, made me stop and think about this thing I was discovering. This "thing" was the desire to write. At first I hated any writing assignment, but the more I did it, the more I realized I loved the whole creative process and began to see the hidden talent I had.

Not everyone has a single passion. Most of us have many things we like to do and can't choose which is our favorite. Others struggle to find something they like to do that they don't get bored with. Finding your passion may take years, but the best way to find your passion, or your passion find you, is to experience life and all it has to offer. Who knows, by getting out there and getting your hands dirty, you may just uncover something inside you that has been aching to be released.