The always though provoking blog by Steve Pavlina had a fantastic article, I'd recommend to everyone today. It's a long, complex look at finding your purpose, your passion, your calling in this life time. I know that I've heard that so many times in my life, I wake up expecting to hear it. "Do what you love, and the money will follow." I truly believe in that. Logically it only makes sense, you tend to spend more time on and learn more quickly about things you love. And usually when you spend more time on and learn quicker than most people about a certain subject, you already have created value that other people will want. I'm not talking about spending 4 years in college in computer science, and then getting paid in a good job to work with computers. I'm talking about someone who absolutely LOVES to cook, who would do it just about anywhere for free, going out and cooking everyday. An example of true passion: I was dragged into clothing shopping this weekend with my sister and girlfriend. The shopping excursion of course led us to an expensive jeans store, which I have to admit is not something of interest to me (I know my jeans are not cool anymore, but I don't really care). Anyway, the second we walked into this store we were welcomed by this guy full of energy. He couldn't wait, like a kid on Christmas eve, to get over to us (mainly the two girls) and start telling us about the exciting jeans he had to offer. He told the girls immediately which jeans they may like and why they'll look great in them. If they had a question he answered it, if they wanted to try them on, he waited outside the dressing room filled with anticipation, like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, for them to come out from behind the curtain. HE LOVED JEANS, and he REALLY LOVED MATCHING PEOPLE WITH JEANS. I've never seen someone filled with so much passion, so much excitement, and I can say without a doubt in my mind that on his off days, he's in that store anyway, checking out the latest jeans. I want that, I demand that, and damn it I'll find that. It does exists (obviously it's not for me and jeans). This is a difficult path to follow, people often are skeptical of you. I often get questions and comments about what the heck I'm doing, and why I haven't figured it out yet. And quite frankly sometimes it really gets me down. My mom always reminded me of the Mexican crab theory. The thing about Mexican crabs is, when you bring them to market you don't have to cage them or enclose them in anything because when one gets the courage to escape, the others pull him back in. If they can't leave, none of the others can either. I won't be pulled back in. When it comes down to it, I refuse to settle for anything that I don't love doing. I don't care about the money, I don't care about the status, I just want to be filled with passion and excitement everyday. If there is one person in this world you can't lie to, it's you. Are you living with passion?