Passion vs. Purpose
Ask yourself this: why are you really here?
Passion, noun
> a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something
For a long time I followed my passions. I made decisions based on what I was passionate about, since I believed if I had a strong, compelling emotion toward something, I could fuel that into meaningful and successful work.
The problem was I was passionate about a lot of things. At the top of my list was helping others (in what capacity, though, I didn’t pinpoint). But there were other top contenders that evoked fervor inside of me, like endurance running, ethiopian jazz music, and my future climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro.
I was compelled by community development in West Africa, drinking good whiskey, and certain galaxies in the sky. I read books about colonization in the Congo and what it takes to thru-hike the Appalachian trail. I found solace as a teacher in a tiny Ghanaian village, yet found an equal sense of passion sitting in my air conditioned Brooklyn apartment writing about funfetti cake.
Maybe an eclectic set of passions is a good thing, but it also confused the hell out of me.
Which path do I choose?
I believe “passion” creates a similar buzzword-like phenomena that “happiness” does. We’re obsessed with the idea of passion because we’re constantly told to follow it — to dig and find out what really makes us tick. Similarly, we’re all on that continual pursuit of happiness; we’re told to do what makes us happy, to love what we do, to remember that we only live once.
But I’d argue that instead of happiness — which can be fleeting — we should search for meaning — which endures.
Instead of going after passion — compelling emotions — we should go after purpose — the real reason we’re here.
Passion is subjective, while purpose is objective. Passion is vulnerable to fluctuating human emotions, while purpose is more scientific:
Purpose, noun
> the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” — Mark Twain
Purpose is the ability to understand why we’re on Earth for such a short period of time.
Purpose is the ability to not only figure out the “what,” but figure out the “why.”
When you find purpose, there is no longer a separation between work and life.
When you find purpose, you find flow.
When you find purpose, it’s almost impossible to answer the question “why do you do what you do?” because the answer is simply, “how could I not?”
“What could I say to you that would be of value, except that perhaps you seek too much, that as a result of your seeking you cannot find.” — Herman Hesse
How you find purpose is a different type of challenge. In one of my favorite books by Herman Heese, he talks about how you can’t search for purpose. Instead, purpose becomes available once you truly open yourself up to the world, accepting what you’re meant to do as you go through life: experiencing the beautiful, raw, painful, and intense moments of time.
Finding — instead of seeking — means becoming vulnerable to challenge, uncomfortable situations, and feats outside of your comfort zone.
Finding means failing a billion times before succeeding.
Finding means going after all of the things you are passionate about in order to get to the real end goal: purpose.
