[UPDATE to this post: OK, probably passion is good. If you aren't killed by your own emotions. Actually I am making great progress in handling mine, with a process called EFT. Warmly recommended if you ever feel over-emotional.]
All the world admires passion. We love the passionate revolutionary, the passionate artist, the passionate lover.
Lemme tell you, I've had passion out the wazoo all my life, and I am getting rid of it as fast as I can. It has given me nothing but ulcer, headaches, and high blood pressure. Not to mention insomnia.
Passion is not your drive. Passion is a parasite. Passion is interference on your radio. Passion makes you upset over all kinds of things that you can't change, not to mention all kinds of things that don't matter. Passion makes you hurt inside if something fails. Passion is just turbulence in the river of your progress.
What I want is serenity. That I know what I do, and I just do it, no bullshit. I have no use for getting all riled up about it.
Sorry if that got a little passionate, I am working on that. :)
(And making good progress, actually. More later.)
UPDATE: I am getting some protests on this one. Perhaps I am mixing up two different definitions of passion:
1: Strong enthusiasm and interest for something.
2: A powerful emotion, such as grief, joy, hatred, or anger.
The first one is obviously helpful, the second one I believe is not. At least not when it is not under control.
I think though that the two are related. You'll notice that top sports stars often have terrible tempers, for instance.
Maybe the ideal is to have a lot of the first kind, and moderate amounts of the second kind.
I see you as a very smart person, but I'm afraid I have to disagree on this one point. Without passion, how would anything get done? I feel it's one of the things that makes life worth living. But that's just me I suppose.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I think I could use more passion that comes out of my wazoo.
ReplyDeleteI'm finding that I don't accomplish as many goals as I'd like. Maybe that's not necessarily bad, but I have a feeling that forty years from now, if I haven't pursued things that I liked, I'll regret it.
I guess there can be too much or too little of anything.
ReplyDeleteQuiet passion is best for some things; dramatic passion is best for others. May I have the wisdom to know the difference.
ReplyDeleteMany sports figures with bad tempers -- or anti-social behaviour in general because they never had to grow up, so to speak. People make allowances because they kan kick, run, hit, etc. very very well. Obviously, this strategy works very well for them
ReplyDeleteAh.........
ReplyDeleteI think you are cheating here a little, Eolake......!!
Those of us who read your blog know that you do, indeed, have great passion for things!
Serenity is essential, but harder to achieve.