āGreat dancers aren’t great because of their technique; they are great because of their passion.ā –Martha Graham
I am an optimizer (I come from a long line of optimizers). I like to optimize pleasurable things in life, like meals. Like this dinnerĀ (fish tacos from Hula Grill in Kaanapali):

Now – Iām not going all Brave New World on you. I donāt think that we should amuse ourselves to death. But I do think that thereās merit in doing what you love, even if it has no real purpose. If you do what you love, you wonāt be stressed out, and youāll probably be happier and live longer. If Iām going to tie this back to food, I would say that if youāre happy (and distracted by the things that make you happy) you are probably not mindlessly snacking or incessantly worrying about your diet.
So what about passions?
āYou never achieve success unless you like what you are doing.” –Dale Carnegie
If you know what your passion(s) is (are), great. You are way ahead of the rest of us. If you donāt, I think you can figure it out by starting with the basics – enjoying yourself to figure out what makes you happy.
What I am trying to say, in this roundabout way, is that we should always make time for the little things that make us happy, because those little things add up over a lifetime. If you donāt add in the little things, life gets boring, and the big things canāt make up for the cumulative benefits of all those little fun things.
After a while you can use those little things to discover something (something bigger maybe) that you are passionate about and that you can do for a living, or do on the side – something that gets you up in the morning and makes you eager to see what happens next.
Finding What You Really Love – My Story
On our honeymoon we took long walks, we read, we cooked, we ate good food, we drank (a little), and we just hung out. Those things all make me really happy. Maybe those activities arenāt really āpassionsā in the traditional sense, but they all maximized my happiness. I donāt usually take time in real life (as opposed to honeymoon life) to do those things because I donāt feel like they have a real purpose – but they do have a purpose: to make me happy!

Now that Iām back, Iāve realized a few things:
- The first is that food doesnāt really matter all that much (to me – maybe you are different!). Itās yummy and good and all, but it doesnāt deserve more of my life than the time that my 3 meals + 2 snacks a day add up to.
- The second is that I love to read, and I need to keep books on my shelf that are so good I canāt put them down. When I have a great book in my hands, I canāt think about anything else. Reading is my most favorite thing to do at night after a long day and right before I go to sleep.
- The third – apparently I like to write. I have all these words that keep pouring out of my fingers and onto the
page screen. I feel so refreshed when I finish a post.
So now Iām doing all these things that I enjoy and itās helping me figure out what Iām passionate about and what I want to do next.
Finding Passions – Next Steps
Start with the little things. What do you enjoy? Here are some ideas:
- Reading
- Cooking
- Writing/journaling
- Listening to or playing music
- Doing yoga
- Volunteering (This is great, because not only are you having fun, but you are helping other people at the same time. If you are in New York, Free Arts NYC has a great mentoring program that you should get involved in.)
Find the little things that make you happy; maybe one of them youāre passionate about. Then do everything you can with that passion.
āChase down your passion like it’s the last bus of the night.ā Ā –Terri Guillemets
Here is one last quote that I found while searching for quotes on passion (I just thought it was funny, and at least a little bit true):
āThe most beautiful make-up of a woman is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy.ā — Yves Saint Laurent
Do you know what youāre passionate about?