Passion
What are you passionate about? You may be able to list a few passions immediately or struggle to name one. Finding and realising your passions is an incredibly useful step in finding meaning if your life. Whether it be through sports, charity, entrepreneurship, inspiring cultural change, or religion, passion brings out your energy and allows you to express yourself to the outside world. Being passionate about things is quite an attractive quality in a person. People who share passions are way more likely to build relationships with each other, also allowing deeper connections with one another.
So, what are you passionate about? If you can’t answer this question, you need to go out and explore the world some more. Try out different experiences, go to different places, talk to new people, etc. Once you realise your passions and engage with them, you will generally feel happier and more fulfilled with your life.
Passions that involve others are often the better ones. If you are passionate about fighting climate change, animal welfare, or helping others in need, you’ll feel much more meaning in your passion than in an entirely self-centred one.
Now with the passions that you do have, are you completely aligned with them? Do you question whether that passion is one you really want? Sometimes you’ll want to change up your old passions to align better with the person you have become. You may notice one of your current passions is hanging on by a thread, you can choose to cut it or keep it alive; it’s up to you. A decent way of realising the passions you have that are growing or dying is to see how much time and energy you invest in them.
Do your passions align with your values and your actions? Imagine if you could find a job that mixes passion with contribution to others. Some passions can fit this paradigm, and some will be very difficult to. If you can align your job with your passions and contribution to others, it will make life seem so much more meaningful. You may think that this thinking is way too optimistic, whether you choose to pursue this or not is a decision up to you. Even if you can only find something that mixes two of these (work, passion, contribution), it will still be a worthwhile and meaningful investment, and possibly a vast improvement on your current circumstances.
Creating this blog is my attempt to mix passion with contribution while having the capability of becoming paid work as well. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll be trying something new that mixes passion, contribution, and work. Discovering what you can do to combine these areas of life may be a tremendous challenge for many people, and it may seem more natural for others. If it isn’t possible to find something that fits all three points, just searching for it can bring a sense of meaning to your life, providing valuable experiences and a greater understanding of your own character.