Why passion is your biggest ally in finding inner peace.
Reignite your love for a particular hobby, sport or thing and you’ll fi nd that all aspects of your life improve.
Do you feel jaded about the world and your place in it? You need to get some of your passion back. One of the best ways to retain passion is to have something you care deeply about. For some people this is a particular sport that they study obsessively, either as a participant or as an observer. For others it can be something like opera or art or even the classic anorak activity — trainspotting. Being a geek is now very chic as it shows that you are still excited about something while all around you people are turning apathetic.
Think back to the last time you spoke about something and your eyes were glistening and you were talking nineteen to the dozen. If you can’t remember, ask your partner or your friends to let you know what you talk about most excitedly. When you find your passion, you can read about it till the cows come home and still not get bored.
Passions are also a way of entering ‘the zone’. The zone is a state of being within which you lose all sense of time and space because you are so lost in what you’re doing. The more time you can spend in this pleasurable state, the better it is for your health and happiness. Your blood pressure is lower — unless of course bungee-jumping is your passion of choice — and your stress levels end up being very low.
One of my passions is Agatha Christie’s Poirot novels. I like the era she wrote in, I like the TV film dramatisations (though I prefer David Suchet as the Belgian detective rather than Peter Ustinov) and I love the bloodcurdling murders. I can watch them on a loop and I can bore anyone with any aspect of Poirot lore.
My other passion is the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. I have seen it hundreds of times and can recite the lines back to you. It is a fairly useless passion as they’re not much I can do with it beyond watch it over and over again (and there’s only so much pause and play you can do over Colin Firth in a bath). It is also a bit sad and a bit embarrassing and my sister will scream if I watch it in front of her again but it makes me happy whenever I watch it in one sitting. A good way to find your passion is to pay attention when your family groans when you mention something. That is an easy way to know that this is something you love enough to bang on about it all the time.
Some people take their passions and turn them into careers. While this is not suitable in all passions, it is certainly a way to make a living out of something you’d be willing to do for free. If you love making models, perhaps you can sell them to people who don’t enjoy making them but like owning them? If you have a passion for baking, perhaps you can supply your cakes to a local café?
Even if you can’t find a way to make money from your passion, you should give a reasonable amount of time to it. Not to the exclusion of everything else but a regular unit of time in which you can enjoy your hobby. Make this time special to you and let your family know that they shouldn’t disturb you when you’re indulging your hobby but also make time for them so they don’t start resenting your passion.
Here’s an idea for you…
Join a club or go to an introductory club meet. This can be for anything at all. You’ll find in clubs of like-minded people that there are some who know more than you and some who don’t; this unevenness in knowledge makes things constantly interesting as you’re bound to learn something new or impart some knowledge. And you can’t pay for the invigorating enthusiasm of some folks out there. Get inspired!
Defining idea…
‘Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.’
DENIS DIDEROT, author and philosopher
How did it go?
Q I don’t think I’ve ever felt passionate about something — how do I find my inner anorak?
A Most people can remember something they loved doing as a child, be it collecting cards or watching Star Trek or something, but some of us don’t remember ever feeling obsessive about anything. In such a case you have to undertake an investigation into what your passions are. Try and do something completely new each month, like a painting class or rock climbing. Gauge how much you enjoy each activity and start to do those you really enjoy regularly. You’ll learn more and more as you progress in your chosen hobby or sport. You only gain anorak status after a sustained time doing something you love. Good luck!
Q My husband is a football nerd and I find it excruciatingly boring. How do I stop him boring me with information about football?
A In the parallel universe where I am Supreme Ruler, football has been banned and anyone who even thinks to mention it is tickled to death. However, since you don’t live in my universe, you have to find another way to deal with it. Get a hobby of your own and ask your husband to only discuss football with his mates rather than you. If he ignores your request, start telling him in minute detail about your new hobby. He’ll definitely stop very quickly.