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Finding Your Passion
Growing
up, I was the only kid in town who never faked an illness in order to skip
school. Not because I actually enjoyed school, but because sick days meant
being propped on the couch like a taxidermist’s latest victim and forced to
spend “quality time” with my Mom. This quality time was also spent with Donahue
and Sally Jessy Raphael, watching them deal with issues that were about as
interesting to a 6 year-old as a creative writing class is to an Engineer.
Every
so often an episode would grab my attention (the conjoined twins who were
trying to poison each other was quite riveting), but more often than not, it
featured some “self-help” guru proclaiming he had discovered the secret to
happiness. Although each had his own approach and the “cheese” factor varied
depending on the host, generally every episode ended with the same redundant
message; In order to obtain true
self-fulfillment and lifelong happiness, you must find out what you are
passionate about and do everything in your power to follow your passion.…or something like that, I was only six at
the time so my memory is a little foggy.
During
my first 12 years on earth, my passion consisted of chocolate bars, bacon
sandwiches and anything Earl and Edna Graham would give me from their ice-cream
freezer when I happened to be in the neighborhood. Since our house was
two-doors down, I happened to be in the neighborhood every day, which resulted
in both my non-existent social life and my colossal fear of spandex (wearing it
drew attention to the fact that I bore an uncanny resemblance to a stuffed bratwurst
with limbs).
It
wasn’t until 20 years and countless Weight Watchers meetings later that I
stumbled upon what would soon become my true passion. Spanish…the Universal
language of love. Or in my commitment-phobic world, the language of “I like you
enough to make plans for next weekend”.
It
wasn’t easy discovering my passion, and now I feel it is my duty to help others
uncover theirs. Therefore, I have come up with a few simple rules to follow:
1)
Don’t
declare your passion after pounding back a bottle of Jack Daniels at your work
Christmas Party…you will end up regretting it the next morning and be forced to
tell your co-workers you decided against selling all earthy possessions to live
off the land.
2)
Do
not follow more than one passion at a time. Becoming an environmentalist and a
drag car racer can turn out to be a conflict of interest. And last but not
least;
3)
Don’t
feel forced to choose a passion you aren’t really passionate about. Nobody
likes a passion phony.
If you
follow these simple guidelines, one day you too could end up on Sally’s show
proclaiming; In order to obtain true
self-fulfillment and lifelong happiness, you must find out what you are
passionate about and do everything in your power to follow your passion…or something like that.