"I'm not sure when it happened," I answered. Brandon and I had just stopped for dinner in St. George on our way back from two days of business meetings in Las Vegas, and we had spent most of the time talking about the passion and excitement which should surround our goals in life. "I'm not sure when it happened; however, I can tell you how it happened," I told him, and it was true.
I have been searching for passion all of my adult life. Passion is tricky, and like U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart's famous line about pornography, "I know it when I see it." (1) If you pay attention to conversations with others, you'll know when they are passionate about something. For example, an acquaintance worked in the meat department at a local store. The job is a second job for him, and whenever I am shopping, we'll stop and chat for a few minutes if we see each other. On one occasion, he said he was quitting, and his final day was the upcoming Saturday. They were moving to Salt Lake City, and he was excited about the upcoming change in his life, except he would have put into storage his model railroad setup that he keeps in a garage separate from the house.
For the next ten minutes, he talked about his model train set and all the bells and whistles he had built around it over the years—towns, mountains, and a ski resort complete with moving lift. My eyes glazed over within the first couple of minutes until I recognized the higher pitch of his voice and the increase in volume. "Damn, this guy is passionate about his trains," I remember thinking, and it was confirmed beyond any doubt. Ask my beautiful wife about horses, and you'll get the same reaction. Ask newlyweds how they met, and you'd better be ready to spend an hour listening to their story because you won't be able to get a word in edgewise.
"But, how? How do you develop a passion to such an extent?" Brandon asked as we munched along on dinner rolls waiting for our steaks to arrive. "I don't know if it works the same for everyone, but here is what worked for me," I told him. There were many moving parts to my journey, and we could spend hours, if not days, going over some of the finer points; however, I wanted our time to be well spent, so I answered "Goals." It's trite, I know, but let me explain the journey. First was a book by David Allen called "Getting things Done," helped organize and clear the runway of all the trivial junk daily. Next came TQ, which I mentioned in blog format before, which helped me plan how to accomplish my goal and finally work toward their attainment.
It's important to remember I told Brandon that not every goal brings joy; most don't; however, pursue as many as you can, and eventually, you'll feel passion develop for an area you will genuinely love. You may not recognize that love initially, so you have to keep at it long enough to know. Oddly enough, two things changed when passion developed for me in a couple of areas. First, it was like coming out of a fog; second, I was happy. It certainly didn't happen overnight, and as I mentioned, I'm not sure when it happened; however, "I'm just happier now than I have been for years. Passion is the key to happiness," I tried to explain as our steaks arrived and we dived into something I knew we were both already fairly passionate about; good food.
Written September 26, 2022
References:
(1) [The Origins of Justice Stewart's "I Know It When I See It" - WSJ](https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-LB-4558)