This Post was backdated due to my laziness. It was written early morning on the 16th.
Tonight, I'm going to chat about Passion in a somewhat more rational way. For those of you that describe my writing as though I was "raping your mind". You see, Passion is this incredible thing. It will drive people to the ends of the world. It will drive explorers to go places that no man has gone before, simply for the passion inside of them that refuses to let them stay in one place. Passion is what has built this world from long before the industrial revolution into the world it is now, a scant 200 years later.
I spoke with one of my closest friends about passion, and he told me that Passion can burn you out. That passion is hard to find. I can't just disagree with him, because they're both good points. But the way Passion burns you out is unique, I think. Passion forms a feedback cycle with you.. mind, body and whole. It will eat every spare thought in your mind when you're caught in its fiery throes, but every ounce of energy it saps, its restores two ounces. For every moment it consumes you, it gives you two more. Passion can make life fulfilling, and a life that is fulfilled is a life that is truly lived.
You know, Passion is hard to find. But I don't think it's hard to find because we're unaware of it. I think it's hard to find because it's difficult to find the strength of soul to really evaluate it. We are all passionate about things. Our passions, even when uncultured and unexplored, drive our hobbies. They drive our existence, our relationships, our social frameworks. People, it seems, just have an innate problem with believing that they can truly pursue these passions. They refuse to believe that if they actually grasp it, and embrace what they love, that they may actually succeed and exist successfully. Many people think to themselves, "Gee. Wouldn't it be great to do this all the time?" or "I wish I could do that. It would make me so happy.", and they always tell themselves that it's foolish to actually try. That if they were to do this, they would sacrifice everything they've achieved so far. They would risk stability, financial wellbeing, and their relationships. And I won't lie, anyone can tell you that honesty is extremely important to me. It is one of my deepest values. But trying to embrace your passion can truthfully be extremely difficult. It does require careful planning, and it is difficult to first get into. The money doesn't just appear overnight, there is a struggle there. But with the famous parable of the Caterpillar and the Butterfly, struggle truly forces you to grow. And once you've breached that important goal, once you spread your wings, you really can live a life that many people can only dream of. If you don't believe me, just look around you. There are countless, and I do mean countless, people that do this exact thing on a daily basis. Every single day of the year, someone is breaking from their stability to do something they honestly love, and they will succeed.
So, I say this to you. Discover what it is that you love. The best advice I've ever received is to think of what you would do even if you wouldn't get paid for it. And then do it. I'm not saying to quit your job and leave your family. That is an extremely difficult decision that depends on so many external variables that I can't say that. But if you do what you love, and you do daily, eventually you will find a way to move that to your primary existence and migrate away from the life that so many people absolutely abhor. But all it takes is that doing. If you perform the action, if you engage your passion, eventually it will take over and you will find yourself the opportunities needed for success. All I'm asking, is that you do it. If your passion is writing, then write. Every day. Put ink to paper, or keys to screen, and write. It doesn't matter what you write, it doesn't matter if there's any quality there. All that matters is that you do it. If people don't like it, ignore them. If people say that what you're doing is horrible in quality, ignore them. Just because you have a passion, doesn't mean you're a master at it. But if you do it, every day, you will become a master. You will become an expert. But if you never take the first step, then you can never take the last step.
It really is that simple.
And tonight, I leave you with another quote. One that applies, perhaps not to starting, but one that does apply to passion.
"The question is not how far. The question is.. do you possess the constitution.. and depth of faith.. to go as far as is needed?"