Passion Vs. Purpose

[forgedFx]

I am curious to see which of these you feel holds more power to manifest dreams. I have discovered there are really two schools of thought when it comes to passion and purpose. There are those that claim that when you find your purpose your life then decisions come easier and everything flows from there. However can you know your purpose without knowing what your passion is? Also, if you are living life from a passionate perspective is it necessary to have a purpose? Interested in all of your feedback!

[jbsmith]

For me, passion comes as a result of purpose.

In other words, use your passion to give you a clue as to what your purpose is in life.

For example, I worked with a client who was stuck in their job, was at least 20lbs overweight, had just recently been through a divorce and was generally struggling with everything in their life.

They were holding a dream to write their own book for at least the last 15-yeras, that was a passion for them.

Yet, they continually ignored that passion and constantly put it on the back-burner in favor of everything they did not enjoy doing.

Long story short, his life is now changing marketdly as they put more priority on their passion. A big part of that was understanding WHY they had the passion to write -- turns out their purpose was to help others through teaching. In this case, their passion was their guide to understanding their purpose. Unfortunately it took 15+ years to figure out, fortunately he is on the right track.

Jeff

[Clint Cora]

I think you need to have passion to have purpose. I find it very difficult to imagine pursuing your purpose in life without having passion for what you are doing.

However, I think you can have passion without necessarily having purpose. For example, I am passionate about scuba diving, snow skiing and hot cars. But althought I enjoy these very much when I'm involved with them, I don't feel a real purpose attached to any of them, nor do I feel the need to.

On the other hand, in the areas where I feel I have a purpose in, for example sharing my experiences with others when I feel I can help them, I also feel a deep passion for the activities that support that purpose.

[alexb5784]

As I've gotten older, I've noticed that my life has once central theme which is "Meaning". I can feel a sense of meaning in everything I enjoy. For example, I love to bake because I enjoy the creative process and I absolutely love giving away sweets to friends. I feel a deep sense of passion by sharing my creations with the others.

I feel the same way about other things I do outside the kitchen. I enjoy mentoring, teaching, doing academic research, and being a care-taker. All of those activities hold a dear sense of meaning to me.

I no longer see my purpose as something I do. Rather, purpose is a way of life for me. My purpose allows me to feel passionate whether I'm exploring a research opportunity or baking chocolate chip cookies for my best friend.

Hope my answer helps