Another thing about being real about your particular passion is that the down sides, or un-fun parts of it make the parts you really like stand out and still feel good. If everything about your chosen way was easy and fun, it would stop being so appealing. That’s just human nature. The metaphor of participation trophies versus real prizes works here too.

I can relate some of my challenges .. First of all, I used to think my picking speed for guitar playing was lacking so I spent alot of time trying to work on picking exercises. I was able to play a bit faster but I also developed wrist or other problems. I think looking back I should have focused more on how I naturally play instead. I’ve gotten past that but wasted alot of time. I still have problems that I practice the guitar too much at one stretch and at times have wrist or hand problems. I need to take more breaks and be more relaxed when I play but this is actually more of a challenge than it sounds.

I also have so many interests and things that I do that I am really spread thin. I hardly ever make it to the martial arts studio, I drop into church or bible study very intermittently or not at all in the summer. I do a bunch of canoeing and just bought a kayak and want to learn the eskimo roll. I try to do speeches at toastmasters but people at that club say that they miss me because they hardly ever see me. I’m trying to grow mushrooms, garden in the summer, get up to the beach when the waves are good, drive 200 miles to my camp every few weekends, spend more time meditating. I have thought of getting another truck camper someday but I already have a camp so I am holding off because I am not sure how much I would use it even though I miss camping at the beach a little.

I think work can be interesting and fun, but it can sometimes also be stressful for many reasons due to the environment or circumstances

Great episode! I was looking for my passion for the longest time and couldn’t find it. Then I started trying what I always wanted to try but never dared/had the opportunity to. Lots of fluff out there and I wasn’t passionate about stuff to really get good at it. So I tossed these.
Found out that thinking about what I wanted to do even as a kid is a good lead. I always wanted to have a farm. BUT dreams you have a kid need some work and experience.
While I always wanted to raise animals (esp. horses of course!) I found out quickly that I am not made for this. Raising is one part, butchering/selling/treating sick animals is not my thing!
I am terribly lucky to have a man on my side who is great at this though! It’s his passion. We do have horses now too which is my big dream. However, I learned quickly that while I am super happy that we have some, this is not my passion in terms of a profession. You have to start working in the field before you know! While I love animals and we will have livestock, this is not me. It’s my husbands and he can bank on my support and help for sure but it’s not my baby.
My passion is plants!! I never consider that as the farming part that would fit me when I was dreaming about farming as a kid.
Now I can’t believe that I didn’t see this for decades of gardening and all.
Luckily both of our passions go very well together and we also finally found a property to get really started.

So essentially, what I want to say is if you think you know what your passion is, don’t jump in right away but go and test it somewhere. See the ups and downs before you toss everything out and go after it. And look closely, it might be there but not in the shape and form that you think initially.