I think one of the biggest catastrophes of modern society is the utter lack of passion in people. I had a conversation recently over lunch with my friend and we spoke of this very subject and she too noticed missing passion from folks.
Now we weren’t talking about the passion some of you perverts are thinking of. It used to be a big thing for everyone to tell each other what they were passionate about not necessarily for bragging right but to get them try things you were into. If you would talk to a devotee of any major evangelical religion they would the cornering speech of your life as to why you needed to find God and Jesus(BTW I’m a Secularizationist so don’t worry this is not going to be a Jesus Camp advertisement). What ever happened to these people or those who would try so hard to get you to join Amway by calling every night until you finally broke down and went to a circle drawing meeting.
“The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community >around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.” - Mitch Albom
The Crisis
I polled a few friends not that long ago and was slammed to the turf by their rejoins. I simply asked them what they were passionate about.
The most common answer was “uhhh… I dunno”, “I guess (fill in the blank)” and most surprisingly “I never really thought about it.” What the fuck was that? Nothing, are you kidding me. I mean at least have some passion for not wanting to ever disclose your passion. Something is better than nothing. What happened.
Can we blame the disposable society we live in? I would say no. Blaming society is too easy. Even with the 7-11 instant gratification mentality many folks still find a way to be passionate about things like “Charity Water”. Can we blame MTV and the over watched television crown, No because once again people are doing thing just not a large percentage.
Too many people think their contribution would not really make a difference. So rather then trying to make a contribution anyway they just crawl back into their respective domiciles and do nothing. This is the world we live in these days.
Food for thought
I have been passionate about many things and I changed causes like I changed underwear at one point in my life. I was still very motivated to make a change and make a difference none the less. I think could at least pick something and go for it. Part of the problem is we don’t teach our kids at home or in school about giving the gifts of charity any more.
Hundreds of books about tithing and charity have been written over the decades. Many explain the benefits of giving ten percent of all you earn as a way of making space for new money to come in. Some say you’ll get back in three folds what it is that you give away. My grandmother would tell us over and over again “If somebody steals your shirt offer them your coat too”.
The Quick Fix
I think we all need to go around asking each other what we are passionate about so at least we start the conversations again. this is the only way we can kick start a new revolution and reevaluation of this lack of passion. It won’t fix everything overnight but at least it is a start
What are you passionate about today.
To discover you passion, I would say for starters would be to start looking for an answer outside of yourself. Self preservation is an automatic seed of passion and a leading factor in why people don’t know what to be passionate about. If we only looked to survive and make enough money to be comfortable mankind as a whole would soon decline and diminished to the ashes of carbon we came from.
Look around and see what in the world bothers you and you think you have an answer or at least some suggestions as to how to fix them. Think of something you want to create that would add beauty and life to the world around you. If all else fails go online and look through some of the charity sites to see what out there strikes you as something you could care about. Not the basic caring but the kind you could lose sleep over at night. this is a good place to find your passion.
Conclusion
As soon as you start giving more of yourself to some great causes or just to life in general you will surely find an awakened spirit within yourself. You will be surprised how fast you can get passionate. It may just make you a better person, better lover, more successful or better yet save your life.
