A passion is something that regularly elicits a strong emotional response within us. In discovering our calling, we must take a look at what we are passionate about. When we combine a passion with our strengths, we start to get a good idea of some options for our calling.
Passions are awesome because they provide the fuel for us to take action. Our heart is crying out for us to do something.
If you’re not sure about your own passions, I encourage you to start noticing what gets you fired up, either that makes you thrilled or that makes you angry. Look for a strong feeling you have as a reaction to something going on around you.
Some Passions of Mine
Following is a list of some of the things I get fired up about as I go through my day-to-day life. I’ve also included some of my thoughts that come as a reaction to what I’m seeing, which, I think, give a glimpse into the intensity of my emotional experience.
Child sex trafficking.
That’s sick! Why isn’t our society addressing this in a major way? Isn’t it obvious that if we extinguish the demand, the industry will collapse?
Reduce. Recycle. Reuse.
It’s ridiculous how much trash we produce! There’s no way we can continue to sustain this amount of garbage disposal. Consumers should demand less packaging. Why don’t we just bring our own reusable containers to the store? Reusing milk bottles makes way more sense than having to recycle plastic ones.
Parental influence.
That poor boy! He needs some attention but the mom just tells him to “shut up.” I bet she has no idea of how much power she has in shaping his entire experience of life by how she interacts with him now.
Use Your Passions to Fuel Your Calling
At the root of all these things I’m passionate about is proactivity. I have a strong tendency to want to address the root of a problem. It kills me when I see people only working on a problem’s symptoms. My passion for proactivity fuels my work in Simply Great Lives. I believe we all have a need to be significant and to make a difference. I’m stoked when I help people to reorient their lives to live out this closely-held value. I just wouldn’t be happy hooking people up with some random volunteer work because I wouldn’t be helping them to fix the real issue.
I hope you’ll take the time to see what you’re passionate about. Make a list then look for a theme like I did. It’s really powerful to understand ourselves so succinctly and it’s super-valuable in discerning our calling.
Share with us what tugs at your heart.
