Believe in Passion

Side note: Last night, I won $116 playing Craps at the Mohegan Sun.  I had a good time and everyone profited from the shooting of newbie Jordan.  I'm not nearly addicted to gambling, but, it is a good way to kill some time with some friends.


People need something to believe in.  People need a passion.  That is what keeps people going and enjoying  life.  When people perceive they nothing to believe in, they lose the will to live.  However, that is only a perception.  There is an infinite number of ways to believe and I'm not talking about religion.  The key is to continue educating yourself.

Maybe you can learn a new language.  Learning a second language is a major goal of mine.  After my experiences abroad, I realize how ignorant it is that I only speak English.  Many Europeans speak at least 2 languages.  Part of that is out of necessity because of the relatively small size of European countries and the need to communicate in multiple languages when traveling.  In Europe, English, has become a universal language.  In that regard, traveling through Europe is easy for Americans (assuming they speak English...).  I already have a background in Spanish from high school, but, I think the better choice for me would be to learn Chinese, albeit far more difficult.  I think I would begin with Rosetta Stone.

One of my inspirations to learn another language is Benjamin Franklin.  I recently finished reading his very interesting autobiography.  I am extremely impressed in Franklin's intellectual discipline.  At a time before electricity and reliable information exchange, he was able to teach himself several languages.  He could read and write fluently in English, German, Latin, French, Spanish and Italian.  Obviously, he was a brilliant man but, the fact that he could teach himself these languages, in this time period, removes all excuses I have for not learning another language.

Recently I saw a commercial advertising a car.  The commercial featured the tracking of a weather balloon.  That weather balloon took images of earth from space.  How cool would that be?  It can't be that expensive an endeavor and is something I would love to try.  See here http://space.1337arts.com/

Believe in travel.  I love to travel.  That is one of the reasons I joined the Navy.  Often times, traveling is accompanied by amazing experiences and lead to personal growth that cannot be otherwise attained.  I'm currently reading The 4 Hour Work Week, by Timothy Ferriss, in which the love to travel is a theme.  I will do my best to see all that I can.

The ability to view Earth from space and easily travel far distances are desires of our earliest ancestors that only became feasible in the past hundred years.  Why not fulfill these natural instincts?  As far as learning another language, that may facilitate your travel's and lead to more grand opportunities. It literally opens up a whole new world of possible friends and experiences.  Our ancestors would have given anything for some of the opportunities I listed above and yet, many of us do not take advantage of them.  Instead, we play videogames.

These are only a few things, of MANY, that I believe in.  If you find yourself in a rut, try something new.  Pledge to learn a new language and then travel to a region where you can employ your new skills.  Who cares about money?  You cannot put a price on a genuine experience.  Your kids/grand-kids/great-grand-kids are not going to respect you for the money you may have left behind.  Instead, they will respect you for the passion in which you lived your own life.

What your passion is, is not the point.  The point is, to have a passion.