What is your passion?

The other day I was talking with a friend about passions and dreams. Specific talents that are followed through into careers. Feeling as if you have a purpose, a specific destiny, a specific road to walk down. I've never had the one thing. I am not an artist, though I love art. I am not a musician, though I have played the piano. I am not a dancer, though I like to think I am when I'm swiffering my apartment. I don't feel called to join the military or to go to nursing school.

I have many friends whose passions fit into the categories I have stated above, and my heart bursts with joy when I see them overcome obstacles in their fields. When I see them grow and succeed. I want to encourage them in every way I can so they continue living out the giftings God has blessed them with. I want to uplift them in their talents, because I can't perform the way they can. 

While I was explaining all of this to my friend, he suggested that perhaps my passion is "people". I have such a scattered personality which is fascinated by a myriad  of things. What better way for me to indulge and experience all of these intrigues than through human vessels who have mastered each one? 

The challenge with this is that I want to invest completely. I want to spend time getting to know your craft, and what about it you love and what about it frustrates you. Areas you need encouragement in, I want to be aware of. This, all of this takes time. So often the craftsman is utterly consumed and overwhelmed by their works, that the idea of pausing, or allowing someone to watch and observe their work can be a terrifying thought, it could be a distraction. 

I tend to find myself caught somewhere in the "inbetween". I have learned a little, my feet have gotten wet, and now I crave more - but I have to learn when to step back. I have to learn to allow the crafstman to guide me. 

I believe that everyone loves encouragement. Wants to be understood. But I also believe, or at least I am learning, that each person requires a different amount of that enthusiasm. Each individual loves, but each individual loves in a different way. If my passion is people, is loving and encouraging, I need to step back and learn first and foremost how every person desires to be loved, because only then will I be able to truly harvest fruitful words of wisdom.