Sunday, January 26, 2014

Being Passionate About Your Passions

As we shift and alter throughout life it becomes obvious that our passions grow with us.  Oprah Winfrey is quoted as saying, "Passion is energy.  Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you."  Passion can be defined in so many different ways according to who you are speaking with.  This varies from someone being passionate about saving animals to decreasing the world's pollution.  Passionate about their faith and spreading love and understanding around the globe.  Passionate about helping the needy.  Passionate about their career.  Passionate about having a clean house or even the most beautiful yard in their neighborhood.  Whatever the passion is, to that person it is beyond real and very personal.  Passions are personal.

When we are children our passions lie within our parents.  We begin by never wanting our parents out of our sight.  They keep us safe, secure, fed, clothed, snuggled.  As we begin to grow that passion transcends into a blankie, a stuffed animal, a specific sippy cup, our favorite cartoon.  On into early childhood that passion again transforms into our favorite after school snack, our new best friend, learning to read, getting good grades and going to the treasure box at school for good behavior.  As a teenager our passions become being good at sports, maybe trying out for cheerleader, getting straight A's, being popular, having a boy/girlfriend, being asked to prom, being nominated as team captain or homecoming queen, being president of the class, obtaining big scholarships, applying to colleges or even being passionate about not getting grounded another weekend in a row.  In college, or even early adulthood without college, the passions again transforms into having a great GPA, making enough money to not have to move back in with mom and/or dad, having a boy/girlfriend, maybe planning a wedding or being passionate about learning to juggle work/school/house keeping/friends/family and realizing that our parents were rockstars afterall for doing this for us all those years.

Whatever the passion is, it fits that part of our life.  It is a lifeforce for us.  "Passion rebuilds the world for the youth.  It makes all things alive and significant." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

As I have grown - physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.  It has become apparent to myself that my passions transition with me.  Although some of my passions from childhood have permanently stuck to me, I have gained new passions as well.  The most amazing milestones in my life has birthed the greatest passions within my soul.  Having my children.  Being a mom.  Being responsible for two young beings and watching them grow into their own amazing, passionate creatures.  With children that passion is an overlapment to unconditional love.  I am passionate about my children.  I am passionate about loving them unconditionally.  I am passionate about being passionate about my children.

But, being a Mommy is not necessarily who I am it is something that I do and I believe I do well.  I am also passionate about school.  I am passionate about music, any and all kinds of music.  "Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." - author unknown

I am passionate about having the perfect blanket.  I am passionate about peanut butter and mustard (but not necessarily together).  I am passionate about singing and dancing, even if I am not good at either one.  "Great dancers are not great because of their technique.  They are great because of their passion." -Martha Graham

I am passionate about treating my dog like a child.  I am passionate about learning how to loom bracelets, win on Madden 13, baking a new Celiac friendly creation, preparing the perfect meal for a picky eater ... or whatever else my children need or want or desire.  I am passionate about allergies and heart problems and taking care of our bodies.

I am passionate about being a good wife.  I am passionate about loving my husband.  I am passionate about supporting him EVEN when I hate that his job keeps him from home weeks at a time.  I am passionate about loving him EVEN when I do not like him and I am equally passionate about him loving me EVEN when he doesn't like me.  I am passionate about our marriage.

I am passionate about my family, outside of my home.  My parents.  I absolutely love my mom and dad and am passionate about the qualities that they instilled in me and how they also gave me the freedom to venture out on my own and learn life for myself and discover myself.

I am passionate about books.  Real, turn the page and smell the ink books.  I am so passionate about them that when I find one I truly like I will read it within a couple of days and then have withdrawals that it is over.  I am passionate about writing.  I may not be Emily Bronte or Edgar Allen Poe but I love to write and I love poetry and I love to write words.  WORDS.  I am passionate about words.

I am passionate about movies.  Action.  Romantic comedies.  Psychological thrillers.  Dramas.  I am passionate about theater.  I love musicals and I am secretly singing all of the songs in my head as I watch them.  (My favorite is Into The Woods)

I am passionate about psychology.  The age old question of, "What makes a person tick."  I have been told different opinions ranging from, "Why do you want to do that?  That is a crap degree." to "Wow.  That is amazing you want to do that." to "Are you sure you want to work with criminals?  That is so dangerous." and even to "Sheesh, Brittainy.  That sounds exciting."  Ultimately it doesn't matter the response because I am passionate about my degree and the future that my degree path may or may not take.  I am passionate about reaching my goals in my own timing.

My biggest passion?  I am passionate about being a princess of God.  I fail Him daily.  I am not blind to the fact that I will continue to fail Him because I am an imperfect person that He created.  However, I am passionate about showing others my love for Him and His love for me through my actions and how I treat other people.  "Faith is the highest passion in a human being.  Many in every generation may not come that far, but none comes further." - Soren Kierkegaard

These nowhere near touch the surface of my passions but they are the most significant ones ... and I am absolutely passionate about them.  They drive me, mold me, motivate me, empower me, release me, relax me, love me in return and develop me into a better version of myself.

"Man is only great when he acts from passion." - Benjamin Disraeli



What are some of your passions?  Are you passionate about them?



 



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