Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Living a Life of Passion

Where is your passion?

As I mentally prepare myself for Passion 2015, I can't help but think of this word. Passion. What does it mean?

After a quick google search, I found it to define passion as a "strong and barely controllable emotion". I find myself to be a relatively calm person. Few things excite me. Few things bring me to rage. (Mom, if you're reading this, I know you're probably laughing! Those teenage years were hormonal. LOL) Because of this, I have been blessed with clarity in finding my own passion.

As a young adult, I begin to question my life.

What am I even doing? Is this going to benefit me in the long run?

Am I even being productive?

Where did all of my friends go? Where did my social life go?

While most adults laugh at the small amount of stress we have to juggle, it's still a lot to us. We're not in high school anymore. For some of us, we're about to graduate college. We aren't allowed to say we're "still figuring it out" because "you're about to graduate college, so you better figure it out quick". Knowing that we have to find a career that we could spend the rest of our lives in is overwhelming (especially for those of us who spend a lot of time just deciding if we want a blueberry or a chocolate muffin for breakfast).

So, how do you remain focused?

Life is difficult. Life is stressful. But life doesn't have to be ALL stressful. We are allowed to have fun. Instead of planning your life around how you're going to work, we should plan our life around how we are going to enjoy it, get the most of it.

I love my parents, so don't misread anything in these next paragraphs. I grew up with parents who have amazing work ethic. I credit them for my work ethic now. I'm constantly thinking about work: how I can get more hours, how many hours I'll clock out with at the end of the day/week, if I can go in on my off days to get more hours, how I can improve at work, etc. My father was always working. He's a farmer. He's super dedicated. I once asked my mom how many hours of sleep he gets because I hardly ever saw him sleeping. He came in late and woke early. So, I grew up around that. My mom quit her job to stay at home with my sister. Then she stayed at home to homeschool my sister (and later, me). She was also constantly working. Anyone who discredits homemakers can go talk to my mom (or my grandma and aunt) and ask for their to do list. I guarantee it's more than most get done in a regular work day.

Occasionally my dad would ask what I accomplished that day. If we didn't get much done, he'd make a small comment on that. We weren't in trouble, but both of my parents tried to motivate us to make the most of our time. Because of this, I developed a fear of wasting any days. Even now, if I don't get much done in a day, I instantly allow guilt to cloud my mind. So, instead of sleeping at a decent hour, I'll stay up to "compensate" for time lost. Even when I have to spend sick days in bed, I feel guilty. I feel as if I must be accomplishing something. I became obsessed with quantity of accomplishment, rather than quality.

Is that what life is all about? Ask anyone who is in their older years. Most will say quality of life is more important.

Going back to the beginning, consider your passions. What creates "strong and barely controllable emotion" for you? Is it ending human slavery? Is it ending child abuse? Is it finding a cure for cancer? Is it spreading your knowledge in a classroom environment? Whatever that passion is, whatever motivates you, use that to develop your future career. Allow God to take full reign of your future life. Don't allow the numbers in potential salary to determine your decision of career.

Don't live a life of regret. I strongly doubt that choosing a life that is full of something you have a passion for will lead you to a life of regret. Life isn't about money, how many titles you have in your name, how much college or experience you have. Life is about how you're using your talent to serve God. Don't you want to tell God you used everything you had to serve Him? That you used every possible talent He gave you in order to bring glory to His kingdom? To bring others to Him? I want to be able to say that. I don't want to live a life of regret. I want to live a life full of passion. Passion for serving Christ and His people.

God bless. 

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