After 34 years on this planet, I was finally introduced to what passion really is.

Some of us are afforded the opportunity to find what we are passionate about and pursue it from an early age.

I did not have this luxury because I grew up in a military family who constantly moved around. With the constant relocation, I couldn’t plant my feet in the ground—this made it difficult to pursue things I enjoyed that might have become passions.

I played sports and I excelled in things that I had talent in. However, I always wanted to find something that I was passionate about.

I wanted to find something to immerse all of my mind, body and soul in.

Out of habit, I maintained a routine of toe-dipping into various sports and even connecting with the opposite sex—these were hobbies and connections with people to learn more about myself and others around me. At the time, I didn’t quite understand what it took to turn my interests into passions.

But more recently, I was fortunate enough to cross paths with someone who exemplified what it means to be passionate.

I found the meaning of passion through a now lifelong friend of mine. When we met, we would talk for hours about her passions, including food culture, food sustainability, human rights, boating, traveling and mindfulness. At the time, I had no particular interest in any of her passions, but her enthusiasm for these topics and the fact that she actually acted on her passions moved me and became an infectious model for me.

She took me to a few of her conferences about food sustainability. The material was over my head, but just to see her fully present, engaged and asking questions had an enormous impact on me. This exemplified true passion.

She pursued her interests at all costs—leaving no stone unturned and sucking the marrow out of every chance she got.

This was my aha moment guiding me on my own path to true passion.

She taught me that true passion makes its difficult to sleep because we are excited to wake up the next day and immerse ourselves in our passion. True passion also entails the ability to be self-motivated by our innermost desires, and not by money or social status. (It’s possible our passions may lead us to those things, but they should never be the forefront of why we do what we do.)

We should do what we do because it fills our mind, body, heart, soul and spirit. True passion is something we can’t live without.

It took me a while and a lot of observations from someone who exemplified what passion is, but I discovered that my true passion is connecting with people and inspiring and motivating them. So I became a teacher and a writer.

I want to capture the imaginations and interest of people through my thoughts and actions. I want to be a role model for the youth of America. That’s why I chose to be a teacher.

Teaching isn’t a job for me, it’s a passion—I live for my work, I don’t live to do my work. I also want to inspire people through my writing in hopes that people can follow the path of success that I feel I’ve obtained and avoid the land mines that I have stepped on along my journey. This is why I spend 16 hours a day trying to inspire, motivate and captivate people—because it fulfills my inner being.

No one becomes a teacher to get rich. We do it because we are passionate about our profession. I want to have an influence on the next generation. I want to help them discover something they are passionate about. Great things can happen if we are motivated by our passion to pursue our deepest desires. Who knows, the next Steve Jobs or Bill Gates may be sitting in my classroom?

Not many write for money; most of us offer up our work for free and we do it because we love it and fills a deep passionate desire. That’s why I do what I do. I have so many life lessons to pass on through my words

True passion can be anything. We all must search deep within ourselves or get inspiration from those closest to us and find what moves us, what shakes us and what brings us our aha moment.

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Relephant:

What’s My Life’s Purpose?

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Author: Adam Wilkinson

Editor: Caitlin Oriel

Image: Alex Wong/Unsplash and Jeff Sheldon/Unsplash