Knowing what your passions are from a very young age is an enormous privilege. Many people who seem aimless and purposeless didn’t become that way because they’re lazy or unintelligent, but because they didn’t have the luxury of asking “What do I want?”
Some people dabbed in interests and hobbies during childhood and had each and every one belittled and dismissed, until they stopped exploring their hopes and dreams altogether. Some people grew up in abusive environments and we’re forced into survival mode, only focused on making it out of the situation with relative health and safety. What they would do with themselves after making it out of the fire simply wasn’t driving force. Other people, at a time in their lives when they should have been cared for, were forced to take care of peers, siblings, or even parents or grandparents. They simply never had the time to consider their own needs. Still others grew up in areas so war-torn, or homes so poverty-stricken that their “passions” and dreams were basic necessities, such as food, shelter, clothing, clean water, and a basic education. Anything else seemed too lofty an idea, if it was even factored in at all. As a result, all of these people might reach their late twenties, thirties, forties and up, and only then begin to ask a question which would have been answered in their late teens, under better circumstances: “Who I am?”
So, what’s your passion? If you don’t know, you’re not defective or unworthy in any way. But when you get the time, sit with yourself, breathe, and meditate on what makes your heart glad, what makes your soul sing, and what excites you into getting out of bed in the morning. The answer is inside of you.
