OK, now.  Relax.  I'm not talking about that kind of passion in this article.  It isn't that I'm questioning the importance of romantic passion, but this is a PG-rated Web site after all.

And the kind of passion that I'm referring to here is arguably just as important.  We all crave something in our lives that fires us up, something we're really excited about, something that makes us want to get off the couch and get involved.  That's the kind of passion I'm talking about.

Without passion, our lives become too routine, too predictable, too dull.  If we don't really care about anything, then it's just about as exciting as watching TV and channel-surfing through hundreds of channels with documentaries about watching paint dry or the complete unabridged history of dirt. 

It's my theory that the recent popularity of the "reality shows" on TV are actually a sad cultural commentary that is simultaneously part of the problem and a manifestation of the problem.  Each of us somehow craves excitement, thrills, and maybe at times even a little danger.  But it's pitiful if we've become so physically and mentally sedentary, that the only way we can experience those thrills is if we're vicariously looking over someone else's shoulder just in case it really does become dangerous.  It seems that only when our own reality is so totally and pathetically barren that we need to resort to watching someone immersed in a tank of 100,000 cockroaches.  Would our survivor skills improve enough for us to avoid being kicked off the island if we were willing to eat something disgusting?  Don't we have something better to do with our time?

Imagine the ultimate horror scenario for many of us.  We're alone.  We're stuck in a stuffy room. We have no interests, no stimulation, no social interactions.  Ironically, despite the desperate nature of this disturbing vision, this is exactly what some of us voluntarily subject ourselves to all too frequently.  And this is the ultimate consequence of doing nothing.

But throw some passion into the mix and immediately we stop merely existing and start living.  Some people may find their passion in their careers.  Others in their families, their pets, or their hobbies.  Still others are active in their particular causes or beliefs.  They may volunteer at the Humane Society or the Food Bank or be involved in the activities of their chosen religious organization.  The specifics aren't what's important, though.  It's that we need to have a reason to live, to savor something we enjoy, to have something we look forward to doing, to feel that we're experiencing something rather than just being a passive bystander.

So if you already know what your passion is, pursue it.  If you don't know yet, start looking.  What motivates you?  What irritates you?  What would give your life more of a purpose?  What have you always wanted to do? 

Five years from now, as you look back on 2005, what would you regret not having done?

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