What are your passions and how did you discover them?

[Live-n-learn]

Hey everyone

What are your passions in life (besides women, of course)?
How did you discover them? Did you stumble upon them while trying something new? Someone introduced it to you? Had it always been a passion as far back as you can remember?

Feel free to share your stories!

 

[ChrizZ]

golf. My father introduced me to it a while ago...

 

[Wyldfire]

Helping people discover, deal with and overcome their personal problems. I discovered this is what I'm meant to do when fate kept leading me to cross paths with good people who had big problems and my friendship seemed to have a very positive effect on those people and my influence caused positive change. It became apparent to me after leaving my ex husband and moving in next door to 3 kids whose mother had committed suicide a few months earlier. The kids were 19, 18 and 10. The 10 year old was the last one to speak to his mother before she died. They had a fight when she wanted to leave the house to go party. He begged her not to go and she yelled at him and told him to go to his room. His last words to his mother were "I hate you! I wish you were dead!" Her response was "Well maybe I'll go kill myself!"...and she did. He was pretty screwed up and angry, but also felt guilty and missed his mother at the same time. He took to me and I started babysitting him for free and helping his older sister raise him. I was the only person he would talk to about how he was feeling and the therapist was getting nowhere with him. The kids moved in with me and I ended up getting romantically involved with their father after getting attached to the kids. (Their father was my fiance I refer to sometimes) The 10 year old is all grown up now and doing well. I was really worried about how his adult life would turn out because of what he went through as a child. When I first met him he never smiled, started small controlled fires just to watch them burn and was out of control. Within a month he smiled a lot, his behavior improved dramatically, he did his homework, went to school every day, stopped eating only junk food and candy and opened up a lot.

There have been numerous other situations where I have ended up helping other people. I think that it's my passion in life (to help people) that drew me to this site in the first place.

 

[Live-n-learn]

ChrisZ: I was introduced to golf last year. It is such a great game of discipline. But damn is it expensive for me since I'm just a graduating student lol; do you play often (have a local golf club membership)?

Wyldfire: I think a majority of the human population would love to help other people out. It's inherent to want to feel important, and have a positive effect on others' lives. But unfortunately, often we are so self-conscious that we don't pay attention to others around us.

 

[Mjazz]

working out, it was almost natural, i became obsessed with it at an early age

 

[ChrizZ]

ChrisZ: I was introduced to golf last year. It is such a great game of discipline. But damn is it expensive for me since I'm just a graduating student lol; do you play often (have a local golf club membership)?
Wyldfire: I think a majority of the human population would love to help other people out. It's inherent to want to feel important, and have a positive effect on others' lives. But unfortunately, often we are so self-conscious that we don't pay attention to others around us.

yeah, it´s not that expensive for me though cuz I´m only 18, so I don´t pay full membership. I have a local golf club membership and I play everyday for 6-8 hours. To me it´s the greatest game ever played...

 

[djSlvt]

Racing. Mostly amateur racing and reckless driving. After years of driving for myself, and professionally, I found that I can't do it like normal people do it. I took it to the track, and I just love it.

Racing has in it my 3 other passions, mechanics, electronics, and computers. I like building stuff since I was kid, now I build engines. I liked electronics since I was kid and it got replaced by computers, now I'm able to build engine controllers and program them. It's a lot of fun.

 

[TheNewGuy]

Computers. Stemmed from my childhood K'NEX kits, I used to always want to use them to create new things but didn't have the resources. Then when I found some stupid VB Macro thing on Microsoft Word I found programming. All the resources you could ever need are at your fingertips.

More lately, cars. I'm an adrenaline junkie. I want to go faster, louder. If I could set my ringtone to a turbo spooling up I would.

 

[Bad_Lil'Pixie]

Hey everyone

What are your passions in life (besides women, of course)?
How did you discover them? Did you stumble upon them while trying something new? Someone introduced it to you? Had it always been a passion as far back as you can remember?

Feel free to share your stories!

I have two sets!

Too many to count or mention, really. Music, dance, yoga, painting, goodness, all the arts to make it a shorter list. I love to write and compose music and I've taught a little. Gardening, nothing organized, I garden for colors and aromas, areas of my yard I call 'nature’s chaos'. Running and biking, my city just constructed and paved a 7 miles fitness trail that is amazing. Maybe my passions are best summed up by calling them "being creative". Anything too organized, limiting or structured turns me off.

My other set is my husband’s passions. You can learn so much about a person when you really see what makes them tick. He is a man of a million talents and even though I don't share many of the same interest as he, I love to watch and experience it through him. He's a thrill seeker, drag racing, motor cross, hunting, ATV and Jet Ski’s sports and it makes me sweat when he reads the advertisements for piloting lessons. I his biggest sideline fan, I love to watch him race and cheer him on.

I was never shown a direction to a particular passion, but I was taught by my parents that I have no limits, they never said I couldn't or shouldn't do something.

Now - Live in Learn (great name BTW), what are yours? You asked a great thought provoking question but I didn't see you answer it.

 

[Falcon]

Hmmmm, I would say mine are composing music, basketball, myths in ancient and modern cultures.

I remember Pook said something very interesting about having passion in life. He said that you can easily tell if someone is passionate about something when they are animated through it. Even the quietest person will light up if you start talking about something they are passionate about. It's like you can see it in their eyes and their body movements.

 

[ValleyDJing]

When I was getting ready to enter middle school, my mom got remarried and we moved to a small town. In this town guys my age could become basically one of two things. A stoner or an athlete. All there was to do was play basketball or get high. I've been hooping ever since.

 

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Life itself. When I first opened my eyes * POOF *, there it was.

 

[Drum&Bass]

Illustration/Art : I was born knowing who I was and what I was gonna do for the rest of my life.

Making music: My dad listened to alot of great stuff..and he plays guitar..The older I got I started understanding music and hearing compositions in my head..I needed a way to express that.

Powerlifting/Weight Training/Personal Training: I hated not being stronger.I wanted to attract more women and fill out my clothes better. Now I do it for self gratitude and a genuine interest, the other stuff has taken a backseat and I view as a bonus.

 

[backbreaker]

horse racing. I knew I was a fan when I cried when Holy Bull lost in the Kentucky Derby.. I think I was 8 or 9 at the time.

 

[MrS]

Computers, started from a young age, grew on me.

Moreso, is boxing.
I basically just started and loved every minute of it.

 

[Live-n-learn]

Fascinating responses so far, to everyone who has responded!

Bad_lilPixie: How do you even find time to engage in all those activities? I assume since you hate structure (I specifically hate the restrictiveness imposed by structure!), you are either are self-employed to showcase your creativity or own your own business, right?

To attempt to keep it short, I'm in the midst of reconstructing myself and my life, in the process of stripping away societal holds, be free of its illusions and forming my own frame. Thus, I'm in a pivotal point in my life. The few threads on passions (yep I did a search first!) didn't really go into how people got their passions from, and just a bit of how to find them. I'm interested in reading how people got their passions and thus the reason for this thread, as I'm searching for mine too.

I would say that the word "interests" is the more accurate word to use to describe what I enjoy, but I don't exactly feel they are my "passions". I like playing basketball, tennis, golf, poker, strategy games like chess and risk, pool, darts, bowling. I'm interested in real estate and investing in general, reading, watching comedic and satirical shows/movies, and mostly rock/alternative/r&b music (although I like any song from any genre as long as it appeals to me).

The closest thing I'm passionate about is understanding people's motivation and behaviour. Currently I'm planning to save some money so I could do some traveling, joining Toastmasters to improve my presentation, learn to tango dance. Trying new things etc., they may be things I discover I enjoy doing or maybe not...

Falcon: That sorta reminds of the "Fountain of Youth" (I think it was that post) because when we were young, we tend to be more enthusiastic about learning and discovering things.

Francisco: Typical answer from you; I do like some of your posts though. Nothing specific about life?

Drum&bass: Ahh once in a while I make these tunes in my head, and wanted to actualize them by playing them on the instrument. But sometimes I don't even know which instrument(s) will produce the desired sound! :cuss: As I move along, I might pick up on the electric guitar and keyboard (inspired initially by HIM's When love and death embrace). I'm also reinitiating my personal training program, hope my shoulder holds though!

MrS: Boxing and MMA interest me, but not sure if I'll realistically be able to fit that lifestyle.

 

[Wyldfire]

It's good that you're really thinking about it so you don't end up trying to build a career or life around something you don't really love. There is something that really catapulted me into finally really pursuing my passion. I formed a very close friendship in 2000. He and I became best friends. He was in law school, was absolutely brilliant, came from a very good family and was so full of life and so able to see the beauty around him. About 4 years into our friendship he got addicted to Oxycontin and over the next two years or so his world gradually began to unravel. He ended up dying last August of an overdose.

From the day he died on I knew what I wanted to do. I signed up at a local college and started in January. I'm going to school to counsel addicts and ideally open a free community rehab program aimed at the poor and homeless addicts that end up having to wait far too long to get into treatment. I don't care if I end up losing money to do this, it's that important to me.

If you really love studying human behavior and motivation you might want to look into Sociology or Psychology. I am LOVING my classes and studying because the topics genuinely interest me. I used to want to get into Forensic Psychology and Profiling as well...and that still interests me.

 

[Francisco d'Anconia]

...Francisco: Typical answer from you; I do like some of your posts though. Nothing specific about life?...

I think of life as a gift card without a limit. I can do whatever I want with it whenever I please with the confidence that if I don't enjoy whatever I choose, I will have an opportunity to try something else. I have a passion for living without limitations; it's the difference between living and existing.

Oh yeah, my sig says it all...

 

[Live-n-learn]

It's good that you're really thinking about it so you don't end up trying to build a career or life around something you don't really love.

If you really love studying human behavior and motivation you might want to look into Sociology or Psychology. I am LOVING my classes and studying because the topics genuinely interest me. I used to want to get into Forensic Psychology and Profiling as well...and that still interests me.

I read about it on those topics on my own personal time, but I prefer not to take classes in school b/c I'm not a fan of the subjective marking feedback from the "learning from school" process. I prefer to do something practical, like understanding behaviour to play poker and motivation in negotiations etc. But again, those are interests, but not I'm not sure they're passions. As someone previously stated, you'll know if it's a passion or not. Since I'm unsure of what I've already listed, that means I still haven't found my passions yet.

Here's another question I want to raise to everyone: Assuming you engage in your passion(s) on a daily basis, have you ever stopped enjoying them?
I mean, eventually, don't we all grow bored of doing something repeatedly so much?

 

[Bad_Lil'Pixie]

Here's another question I want to raise to everyone: Assuming you engage in your passion(s) on a daily basis, have you ever stopped enjoying them?
I mean, eventually, don't we all grow bored of doing something repeatedly so much?

I think passions play more of a role for me then just something to do and enjoy, I think they meet certain needs.

Gardening and biking is when I need sun and fresh air. Music & yoga is when I need tranquility and so forth.

Running is the only one I'd do on a daily basis, the others are only when time allows and I want to. If my passions began dictating my day or demanding of my time, I'd certainly lose interest in them quickly. It would diminish their unique qualities.

Again, when it comes to the pleasure of passions I don't want them structured, organized or too demanding. It is just the opposite in other areas of my life, my home, work and obligations, they all have to be in order and well structured.