Finding love is the answer to
the question of how to find your true passion, as love is the ultimate passion
of life. Thus, the quest for finding one's true passion in life ultimately
becomes one of how to find love.
Love has a complexity,
multiplicity and diversity of expressions, so where does one begin to look to
find love?
Perhaps we comprehend in part
the divine Passion of Christ, with His sacrificial Love for humankind. At best,
our most elaborate human expression of love barely expresses any passion at all
in comparison to His pain and suffering, coupled with the ultimate celebration
of joy.
We, as human beings, generally
tend to settle for lesser passions, which may then become the primary focus of our lives. Living life without a passion of some kind would seem to be nearly
impossible because there has to be something that every person as a human being
is truly passionate about, at least to some degree. We may or may not recognize
what that particular passion is in our lives.
Looking at human expressions of
love, or looking for human expressions of love, one sees many different ways
that one's true passion may be expressed. A person’s passion may be manifested in
terms of his or her emotion.
We can simply begin by asking a
person what he or she loves. That may or may not reveal what that person is
passionate about, or what that person’s true passion in life actually is. That
simple, but extremely complex question may assist the person to focus on his or
her true passion in life.
Most people have some idea of what they are mildly passionate about, but that is not true with respect to everyone.
They may state that they like something, enjoy it or are interested in pursuing
that interest, at least to some degree.
But, actually finding one's
true passion? That is another question. It is like looking for a needle in a
haystack and a tiny one at that.
"What is your true passion
in life?"
That is not a good
question to ask anyone because the answer that you will probably get will be,
"I don't know." Ask yourself that question first. Do you know what
your passion in life really is? You probably do not know either.
It is much easier to find something
when you know what you are looking for. What this is stating, is the reality
that if a person knows what his or her passion in life is, then it is a whole
lot easier to find it. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Love by its nature is extremely
evasive, so the quest to find one's true passion in life in terms of finding love
is not an easy one. Fear and love often go hand in hand. Hate is the ultimate
expression of fear. Joy is ultimate expression of love. This is like a web
where these four emotions demonstrate a degree of entanglement.
When one begins to search for
his or her passion there can be an intense driving force that triggers the
inquiry. It can be almost like an obsession, something beyond a person's
control. It is like the poet having to write poetry, because he or she has no
peace of mind until what must be penned has been penned, or the artist not
resting, until he or she has painted a picture that has to be painted.
Passion can range from a quiet
level of interest or desire, to a much more intense passion that is akin to
human love, which can also vary in range from the quiet blossoming of a tender,
beautiful rose, to the intensity of an angry sea of hopelessness, rage and
despair.
At the best of times, passion
appears to wear some kind of a mysterious mask and remains almost unfathomable
until such a time, as there is revelation that just appears to happen.
Fervor depicts passion in a way
that is a warm, but a steady kind of an emotion that one feels. Ardor, on the
other hand, suggests something that is exciting and warm too, but for some
reason it does not seem to last very long. Enthusiasm demonstrates a rather
lively and eager interest in something. Zeal is also synonymous with passion
and it has an element of relentless pursuit (1).
One might suggest that one's
passion in life can appear to change. It is like a child that is passionate
about ice cream, at one moment and then toy trucks, a few seconds later.
Does one's true passion have
that changeability, too?
Perhaps it is the difference
between liking something at the moment, and loving something more, when the
focus changes. It is not wrong for a child to like ice cream and to love toy
trucks. It is fun to watch the transition of expression on the child's face, as
he goes from one passion to another.
Love also enters into the realm
of sexual interest or desire, which some may assume to be their passion in
life. Its expression can also be on many different planes of existence
including literary or artistic, rather than on a purely interpersonal level.
Passion can be interpreted as
the way a person feels about something, totally apart from the realm of love on
any plane. This gamut of feeling can go from very mild feelings to very
intense feelings. For example, one can be happy, or unhappy, when employed in
an area where his or her primary focus is on something that he or she feels
strongly about.
Apart from love and its
expression, one can have anger, grief, sorrow, pain or sadness associated with
those feelings. For example, a painting can trigger pain simply because it
represents a horrific event. There is no apparent love or hate involved, but
there is passion in terms of feeling.
Because one seeks to know his
or her passion in life, and may or may not recognize what it actually is, there
is an element of revelation required. A person can work forever on something
and not realize that he or she is actually expressing his or her passion in
life. Then suddenly there is a knowing, or an all-consuming knowledge.
To find your true passion is
more like finding your calling in life. Are you called to be a poet, a writer,
a teacher, an artist, a musician, or whatever? How do you know?
The reality is that you will
know as knowledge may reveal your true passion.
Going back to the topic of
Love, but now on a divine plane, such knowledge comes in terms of revelation.
Love reveals one's true passion through knowledge.
Finding one's true passion is
not a quest that one can venture into lightly, simple because it may become all
consuming, by its very nature. Some people have a passion for space travel and
will try to get out there, even if it ultimately costs them their lives. Others
are on worldly quest for material goods. Some people just want to know God.
Maybe you are a person, who
wants to take the most perfect photograph in the world. Or, perhaps you want to
write the most outrageous novel of all times. Perhaps your ultimate passion has
to do with designing an electric car.
Ask yourself if you are trying
to figure out what your one true passion in life really is. What do you think
about when you go to bed at night, or when you wake up in the morning? Is there
something that you really want to do, in fact would love to do, more than
anything else in the entire world?
Then go and do it.
You may have just found your
passion in life. My guess is that it will be love related in some way. Quite
possibly you may love it and hate it, at times, too. You will love it because
it is what you want out of life or in life, but you may hate it because it
eludes you.
Life is kind of complex, but it
is fun. Figuring out what your true passion in life really is, can present a
challenge.
Love is the ultimate passion.
(1) Webster's Ninth New
Collegiate Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Inc., Springfield , MA
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