Finding Your Passion

My colleague, Dr. Vicky McEvoy, recently blogged here about how to encourage passion and excellence in your children. It struck me as I read her blog how we need to encourage these things in ourselves, too.

Of course it’s wonderful as a parent to watch your children develop new skills and to embrace a wide variety of challenges. However, when we grow up, we often get set in our ways and don’t challenge ourselves as we did in our youth. Perhaps it’s the fear of failure—higher stakes might make us feel uncomfortable. Or, it might be simply that we don’t have much free time, and taking on a new challenge is time consuming.

I was talking about this with a psychologist I know. She told me that she makes a point of adding passion to her life by doing things she never imagined she would. Her latest endeavor was joining an all female soccer team at the age of 50. In her forties she ran marathons, but now her aching knees are a problem. Though she’s never played soccer before, her knees and her spirit are up to the task.

A writer I work with recently told me that she became a widow five years ago. Wanting to lose herself in something new, she became an avid gardener. Her specialty is roses. Though she still mourns her husband, time and a new passion have eased her grief.

A new passion doesn’t have to be a new hobby. It can be anything, really. A new challenge at work, or even a different job altogether. If you want to foster passion in your life, try doing one of these things immediately after reading this blog:

1. Order a book that is totally different from what you usually read. If you like science fiction, try a true crime book. If you like true crime, try a psychology self-help book. The point is to read something that you thought you never would.
2. Make a new contact. You can find contact information for many people online. Is there someone who you would like to communicate with but never took the time? Maybe it’s someone who owns the kind of business that you would someday like to run. Or, perhaps it is someone you admire—an author, minister, police chief—it doesn’t matter. The point is to reach out to someone who you wouldn’t ordinarily have contact with.
3. Sign up for a class. What would you like to learn? Whether it’s photography, gardening, cooking, flying, or learning to play piano, there are lessons available—probably at your finger tips. Try Googling what you want to do, and see if there is a class nearby.

Each of the three things I suggested above is easy to do and will get you out of your usual routine and into doing something that’s a little different. Let your passion take over and see what you can accomplish, and how that enhances your life.

Julie K. Silver, M.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School. She is also the Chief Editor of Books for Harvard Health Publications.

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